Maersk to charge D&D for cancelled bookings

MAERSK Line has advised shippers it will begin charging “detention” (their rendition) on empty containers upon booking cancellation for Australia and New Zealand. 

“To keep providing you with our global services and our efforts to simplify our processes to serve you better, we would like to inform you that effective from 1 December 2025, Maersk will charge “detention” on all empty export containers that are returned to us upon booking cancellation in export countries Australia and New Zealand,” the carrier said in an announcement. 

“Please note the details of this new process:

1. The "Detention" of Export to Empty Container will be calculated from the date of removal of the empty container from any of our depots, until the date on which the container is returned to us, not used for export. 
2. As the contracted export service did not materialize, free time will not be considered. Detention days will be charged according to standard per diem rates published on maers.com local pages under “Demurrage and detention” (Australia Exports | Maersk/New Zealand Exports | Maersk).” 

The move comes as, in an unrelated development, as the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned part of the Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) 2024 rule that had blocked ocean carriers and terminals from charging demurrage to motor carriers (truckers). 

The FMC had originally said that demurrage and detention invoices should only go to the party who actually contracted for the ocean transport, usually the shipper or NVOCC. That made sense to a lot of people, especially truckers who often found themselves caught in the middle of billing disputes over container delays they didn’t cause. 

But the World Shipping Council challenged that rule, arguing that the FMC went too far. And now, the Court has agreed, saying the Commission’s logic was “arbitrary and capricious.”