Hapag-Lloyd imposes new surcharges in Americas amid rising fuel cost
Charges between $50–150/TEU have been introduced to offset rising third-party feeder fuel costs across the Caribbean and South America.
IMAGE: Hapag Lloyd's container ship. Hapag Lloyd.
Hapag-Lloyd has introduced new Emergency Operations Charges (EOO/EOD) in the Caribbean and South America, citing sharply rising fuel costs driven by the ongoing geopolitical developments.
The new charges will be applied as EOO at origin (Emergency Operations Charge at Origin) and as EOD at destination (Emergency Operations Charge at Destination) in the Caribbean and South America.
The carrier said its existing Emergency Fuel Surcharge (EFS) covers incremental fuel costs for vessels it operates, but it is now facing explicit additional charges from third-party feeder providers, including barge and feeder vessel operators.
As a result, a separate surcharge mechanism has been introduced to pass on these costs.
Surcharge levels range from $50-150 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), depending on location, with key markets such as Venezuela, Belize, Haiti and parts of the East Caribbean set at around $100/TEU, while higher levels of $150/TEU apply to locations including Punta Arenas and Chacabuco.
The surcharge will apply to all container types and will be payable by the sea freight payer.
The move comes amid a sharp rise in bunker prices across the Americas.
Since the onset of the conflict on 27 February, prices at the Port of Balboa, a key Central American port, have climbed significantly, with VLSFO rising from around $550/mt to above $800/mt, while LSMGO and HSFO have also recorded gains, according to ENGINE’s database.
Across the Caribbean, similar upward trends have been observed. LSMGO at the Port of Kingston has surged from around $860/mt in late February to above $1,400/mt, while at the Port of Freeport, VLSFO has increased from about $690/mt to near $890/mt and LSMGO from roughly $1,000/mt to above $1,350/mt over the same period.
By Gautamee Hazarika
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