Hapag-Lloyd passes sulphur cap costs on to shippers
The Hamburg-headquartered shipping group Hapag-Lloyd will introduce a surcharge on the "IMO 2020 transition", passing on costs caused by the change in regulations on marine fuel. Classifying the IMO 2020 sulphur cap as "a milestone for the shipping industry to reduce marine pollution and become more sustainable", the carrier emphasised its efforts to achieve compliance with the new regulations - and the "significantly higher costs" involved.
Hapag-Lloyd's new surcharge will be called "IMO2020 Transition Charge (ITC)" and will be limited to short-term contracts as of 1 December 2019. While the ITC will apply to of all kinds of cargo and spot business with a validity up to three months, tender business will not be affected.
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, spoke of “higher fuel prices in the short term", and concluded: "Given these circumstances, we will implement the ITC to cope with the additional costs as well as to have a sustainable and transparent method of pricing our services for our customers.” (fd)