WASHINGTON — U.S. shipping regulators are throwing gas against carriers looking to cover rapidly increasing fuel costs.
The Federal Maritime Commission has again rejected a request by Maersk to waive the 30-day waiting period for implementing emergency fuel surcharges.
It was the third time since the start of the Iran war that the Danish carrier (OTYC: AMKBY) has seen its request for special permission turned down by the FMC.
The world’s second-largest container carrier failed to show good cause under statutory requirements for the request, the FMC stated in a letter posted to its website April 17.
Maersk in its April filing said that the Iran war and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz have sharply increased the price of bunker fuel. It cited data that showed the price of Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) at global top 20 ports soared from $509 per metric ton on Feb. 6 to $929 per ton on March 9.
FMC Chair Laura DiBella earlier wrote that the liner had failed to disclose specific details in making its business case for a speeded-up process.
Maersk likely was reluctant to disclose too much information as the fuel chaos came just as it and other ocean carriers were negotiating annual contracts with their biggest customers.
In an interview with FreightWaves at FMC headquarters, DiBella said that while she was empathetic to carriers’ needs to absorb costs, she said shippers are facing the same concerns. She also said that liners should have been better prepared.
“It’s not that this started out of nowhere. There was an awareness that this was coming and that there was, potentially, a conflict arising,” DiBella said “There were a lot of threats around [President Donald] Trump wanting to take action should negotiations go sideways. I think at least for the initial 30-day window, that there was some inherent risk built-in.”
Maersk later amended its latest filing, blaming an oversight by its service center for not publishing the April 9 effective date, and resetting it to April 17.
FreightWaves has reached out to Maersk for comment.
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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