Ocean Freight Surcharges List: A Comprehensive Guide

Due to various reasons of the ship, cargo, port and other parties, the ship party increases the cost expenses or suffers economic losses in transporting the cargo, and the ship party provides for additional charges in addition to the basic rate to compensate for these expenses or losses, which is called Surcharge or Additional.

There are many different types of surcharges, and as some circumstances change, new surcharges may be eliminated or developed. In this article, STU Supply Chain has compiled a list of the more common ocean freight surcharges that are currently in effect, in the hope that it will help you better understand ocean freight surcharges.

List of 30 Ocean Freight Surcharges:

· General Rate Increase

· Peak Season Surcharge

· Emergency Bunker Surcharge

· Terminal Handling Charge

· Original Receiving Charge

· Port Congestion Surcharge

· Container Imbalance Charge

· Destination Delivery Charge

· Heavy-Lift Additiona

· Currency Adjustment Factor

· Long Length Additional

· Emergency Cost Recovery Surcharge

· Container Service Charge

· Fuel Adjustment Factor

· Entry Summary Declaration

· Suez Canal Surcharge

· Panama Canal Transit Fee

· Document Fee

· Automatic Manifest System

· Temporary Additional Risks

· Advance Commercial Information

· General Rate Increase

· Cleaning Charge

· TRANSHIPMENT SURCHARGE

· DIRECT ADDITIONAL

· PORT ADDITIONAL OR PORT SUECHARGE

· OPTIONAL SURCHARGE

· DEVIATION SURCHARGEALTERNATIONAL OF DESTINATION CHARGE

General Rate Increase

GRI is the General Rate Increase, which is generally used for South American and American routes. It is used in South America and the U.S., where the shipping company's transportation cost increases significantly due to various reasons such as port, ship, fuel, cargo or other aspects, and the ship owner adds a general rate increase surcharge to compensate for these increased expenses.

Peak Season Surcharge

The full name of PSS is Peak Season Surcharge, which is generally charged by many shipping companies during the peak season when freight is busy, and is somewhat similar to China's Spring Festival price increase. April-November of each year is generally the peak season for the world's freight.

Emergency Bunker Surcharge

The full name is Emergency Bunker Surcharge (EBS), which is a surcharge on ocean freight and is generally settled in US dollars. In case of FOB terms, this charge should be borne by the consignee, not the shipper, because EBS is not part of FOB local charges. This charge can be paid on arrival or in advance.

EBS is generally a temporary surcharge to compensate for the fast rising cost when the international crude oil price is climbing rapidly and the shipping company feels that it exceeds its own capacity, and the market is not prosperous and it is not convenient to increase the shipping cost in time.

Terminal Handling Charge

THC is Terminal Handling Charge, which can be further divided into OTHC-Origin Terminal Handling Charge and DTHC-Destination Terminal Handling Charge, Origin Terminal Handling (OTHC) are charges made by the terminal operator in regards to container movements. Destination Terminal Handling Charges (DTHC) are charges used to describe the charges raised by the port of arrival or port of discharge to lift the container onto or off the vessel.

Original Receiving Charge

ORC is the Original Receiving Charge, a complex charge that is both different from and related to the Terminal Handling Charge (THC), which is only available at ports in South China, mainly in Guangdong, while THC is available at all ports; only one of ORC and THC is charged - if ORC is charged, THC is not charged, and if THC is charged, ORC is not charged.

ORC is specifically designed for ocean-going routes that originate from ports in South China and have destinations in North America, Central and South America, Europe and North Africa. For ports in South China to other ports of destination such as Southeast Asia, only THC is charged as for ports in other regions.

Port Congestion Surcharge

The full name of PCS is Port Congestion Surcharge, and when the port is congested or particularly busy, the waiting time and duration of the ship will be prolonged, and the tug fees and other port call charges may increase, which will cause a significant increase in transportation costs, and the shipping company will charge the shipper a port congestion surcharge to compensate for this cost loss.

Container Imbalance Charge

CIC full name is Container Imbalance Charge, sometimes also known as Container Imbalance Surcharge, this charge is due to the imbalance of trade volume or seasonal changes in cargo flow and container imbalance, shipping companies to compensate for the cost of transferring empty containers and a surcharge.

Destination Delivery Charge

DDC full name is Destination Delivery Charge, in DDU, DDP and other terms, this fee is the seller / shipper shipper burden, otherwise are paid by the buyer / consignee consignee. For example, CIF terms - the buyer / consignee to bear all the costs and risks of the goods in the port of shipment after crossing the ship's rail, so all the costs of the port of destination, including DDC are borne by the party / consignee.

Heavy-Lift Additiona

HLA is Heavy-Lift Additiona, also called Surcharge for Over Weight, which means that the weight of a single piece of cargo exceeds a certain standard (the standard specified by different forwarders or shipowners may be different), requires special equipment (such as heavy-duty cranes) or special operations (such as the need for padding, reinforcing materials and manual tying or reinforcing) A surcharge is charged to compensate for the increased operation cost, if the loading and unloading operation is difficult, or if special treatment is required on the ship's stowage.

Generally, overweight is defined as over 2, 3 or 5 tons. The overweight surcharge is charged according to the weight, the higher the weight, the higher the surcharge, and if the vessel is to be transferred, the surcharge will be added once for each transfer.

Currency Adjustment Factor

CAF is Currency Adjustment Factor, also known as CAS-Currency Adjustment Surcharge, which is a significant loss to the shipping company when the currency in which the freight is billed has depreciated significantly. In order to compensate for the loss, the shipowner will pass on the loss to the shipper/consignor by adding a currency adjustment surcharge.

Long Length Additional

LLA is Long Length Additional, also called Over Length Additional or Surcharge for Over Length, which means that the length of a single piece of cargo exceeds a certain standard (the standard may be different for different forwarders or shipowners), requires special equipment or special operation, is difficult to load or unload, or is difficult to load or unload when the ship is overloaded. It is a surcharge charged to compensate for the increased operation cost. Generally, the surcharge is charged for over 9 meters, and for container cargo, the surcharge is charged for over 6 meters, and the rate increases according to the length.

Emergency Cost Recovery Surcharge

The full name of ECRS is Emergency Cost Recovery Surcharge, which can also be called "adverse weather operation surcharge" - such as bad weather conditions causing a significant increase in ship transportation and operation costs This surcharge is imposed in cases such as these.

Container Service Charge

Container Service Charges are fees charged by the shipping terminals for the storage and positioning of containers before they are loaded on a vessel. The charges usually consist of goods handling, unloading the container, stacking and crane service.

Fuel Adjustment Factor

The full name is Fuel Adjustment Factor and is generally used on Japanese routes. This surcharge is somewhat similar to the temporary fuel surcharge above - essentially the same, but called by different names.

Entry Summary Declaration

ENS (Entry Summary Declaration) refers to the European Customs Advance Manifest Rules. Since January 1, 2011, the EU to (all imported goods to the EU) or through (all transit goods, all goods in transit, all unloaded goods on board, etc.) all shipments to EU ports mandatory implementation of the "Manifest Advance Declaration" rules, the rules apply to all EU member states.

Suez Canal Surcharge

The full name of SCS is Suez Canal Surcharge, the route from Asia, Oceania, East Africa and other regions to Europe basically have to pass through the Suez Canal, the ship through the Suez Canal when the shipping company needs to pay a certain amount of navigation fees to the canal authorities, the cost of the shipowner through the Suez Canal Surcharge form to customers.

Panama Canal Transit Fee

The full name of PTF is Panama Canal Transit Fee, which is the same as the Suez Canal Surcharge, the shipping companies in the Far East and the West to the East of the United States generally have to pass through the Panama Canal, and the shipping companies need to pay a certain amount of navigation fees to the canal authorities when the ships pass through the Panama Canal.

Document Fee

DOC=Document, in the freight forwarding industry, there are 2 fees for DOC, one is DOC charged by the shipping company, which is a fixed fee. The other is the DOC charged by the port of destination, which is also considered as one of the basic fees of the port of destination, and is charged by the agent of the port of destination in US dollars, and the fees are different for each agent.

Automatic Manifest System

AMS is also called Automatic Manifest System (AMS), which is used for U.S.-Canada routes and is unique to the U.S. - all cargoes to the U.S. or transit cargoes to other countries or regions via the U.S. have to be declared in AMS (24 hours before shipment). Manifest system.

Temporary Additional Risks

The full name of TAR is Temporary Additional Risks (TAR), which can be simply understood as a war surcharge, or another way of saying war surcharge.

Advance Commercial Information

ACI is Advance Commercial Information, a Canadian customs requirement that all cargo arriving in Canada or transiting through Canada to other countries must be declared to Canadian customs 24 hours prior to shipment, very similar to the AMS in the U.S.

General Rate Increase

GRI is the General Rate Increase, which is generally used for South American and U.S. routes. It is a general rate increase surcharge that is imposed by the shipowner to compensate for the increase in shipping costs due to various reasons such as port, ship, fuel, cargo or other factors.

Cleaning Charge

The full name of the CC is Cleaning Charge, which is commonly used for break-bulk carriage.

TRANSHIPMENT SURCHARGE

A surcharge charged by the shipowner when cargoes destined for a non-basic port are transferred to the destination port, including transshipment charges and second-haul freight.

DIRECT ADDITIONAL

A surcharge charged when a certain amount of cargo is shipped to a non-basic port and the shipping company can arrange direct shipping to that port without transferring.

PORT ADDITIONAL OR PORT SUECHARGE

A surcharge added by the shipping company due to poor equipment conditions or low loading and unloading efficiency in some ports, and other reasons.

OPTIONAL SURCHARGE

A surcharge added by the shipping company when the consignor is not sure of the specific port of discharge and requests to choose a port of discharge among two or more ports proposed in advance.

DEVIATION SURCHARGE

A surcharge imposed by the ship when the ship has to make a detour to deliver the cargo to the destination port because the normal channel is impassable.

ALTERNATIONAL OF DESTINATION CHARGE

A surcharge imposed when the owner requests to change the original port of destination of the cargo and the relevant authority (e.g. customs) grants permission and the vessel agrees.