Do you know all these surcharges by sea?
Nov 30, 2023
Leave a message
Due to various reasons of the ship, cargo, port and other aspects, the ship increases the expenses or suffers economic losses when transporting the goods. In order to compensate these expenses or losses, in addition to the basic rate, the ship stipulates that the additional fee is called Surcharge or Additional. There is a wide variety of surcharges, and as some circumstances change, new surcharges will be abolished or introduced. This article is to sort out the more commonly used maritime surcharges, hoping to help you to better understand the maritime surcharges.
01. GRI
GRI's full name is General Rate Increase. It is generally used by South American routes and American routes. Because of the port, ship, fuel, cargo or other reasons, the transportation cost of the shipping company increases obviously, and the shipowner increases the comprehensive rate and surcharge in order to compensate for these increased expenses.
02. PSS
PSS's full name is Peak Season Surcharge. This fee is generally charged by many shipping companies under pretext during the peak season when the freight is relatively busy. April-November is generally the peak season for world freight transportation.
03. EBS
The full name is Emergency Bunker Surcharge. EBS is a surcharge for sea freight, which is generally settled in US dollars like sea freight. In the case of the FOB clause, the cost should be borne by the consignee, not the shipper, as EBS is not a local cost of FOB. The fee can be paid either in advance or in advance. EBS is generally in the international crude oil prices rising rapidly, shipping companies feel more than they can bear, due to the market is not buoyant and inconvenient to raise sea freight in time, in order to make up for the rapidly rising costs, and a temporary surcharge.
04. THC
THC's full name is Terminal Handling Charge. It can be further divided into OTHC-Origin Terminal Handling Charge and DTHC-Destination Terminal Handling Charge.
05. ORC
The full name is Original Receiving Charge .This fee is more complex, which is different and related to THC. ORC is found only in ports in South China, mainly in Guangdong, while THC is found in all ports (including Guangdong ports). ORC and THC only charge one of them-if you accept ORC, you will no longer charge THC. If you accept THC, there will be no more ORC. ORC is specifically aimed at shipping from ports in South China, destined for ocean routes such as North America, Central and South America, Europe and North Africa. Ports in South China that go to other destinations such as Southeast Asia, like ports in other regions, only levy THC.
06. PCS
Full name is Port Congestion Surcharge. When the port is congested or particularly busy, the waiting time and shipping time of the ship will be extended, and the port charges such as tug charges may also increase, which will result in a substantial increase in transport costs. In order to make up for this cost loss, the shipping company will charge the shipper a port congestion surcharge.
07. CIC
The full name of CIC is Container Imbalance Charge, sometimes also called Container Imbalance Surcharge. This fee is a surcharge imposed by shipping companies to make up for the cost of transferring empty containers due to the imbalance between cargo flow and containers caused by the imbalance or seasonal changes in trade volume.
08. DDC
The full name of DDC is Destination Delivery Charge. In terms of DDU, DDP, etc., this fee is borne by the seller / shipper, otherwise it is paid by the buyer / consignee. For example, the CIF clause-the buyer / consignee shall bear all costs and risks of the goods passing the ship's rail at the port of shipment, so all costs at the port of destination, including DDC, shall be borne by the consignee.
09. HLA
The full name of HLA is Heavy-Lift Additiona, also called Surcharge For Over Weight. Refers to the fact that the weight of a single piece of cargo exceeds a certain standard (different freight forwarders or shipowners may have different standards). A surcharge charged in order to make up for the increased operating costs by requiring special equipment (such as heavy cranes) or special operations (such as padding, reinforcement materials and manual binding or reinforcement), difficult loading and unloading operations, or special handling on the stowage of the ship.
Generally speaking, more than 2 tons, 3 tons or 5 tons are considered overweight. The surcharge for excess weight is calculated according to weight. The greater the weight, the higher the surcharge. If transshipment is to be made, there will be an additional charge for each transshipment.
10. CAF
CAF's full name is Currency Adjustment Factor. Also known as CAS-Currency Adjustment Surcharge. When there is a significant devaluation of the freight collection currency, the shipping company will suffer greater losses because of the devaluation of the currency. In order to make up for the loss, the shipowner will pass on the loss to the shipper by adding a currency devaluation surcharge.
11. LLA
The full name of LLA is Long Length Additional, also called Over Length Additional or Surcharge For Over Length. It means that the length of a single piece of cargo exceeds a certain standard (different freight forwarders or shipowners may have different standards), requires special equipment or special operation, is difficult to load and unload, or requires special treatment on the stowage of the ship. a surcharge charged to make up for the increased operating costs. Generally speaking, if it is more than 9 meters, it is considered super-long, and if the container cargo is generally more than 6 meters, it is considered super-long, and the rate is increased step by step according to the length.
12. ECRS
The full name of ECRS is Emergency Cost Recovery Surcharge, which can also be called "inclement weather operation surcharge"-such as the significant increase in shipping and operating costs caused by bad weather conditions, and so on.
13. CSC
The full name of CSC is Container Service Charge.
14. FAF
The full name is Fuel Adjustment Factor, which is generally used on Japanese routes. This surcharge is somewhat similar to the temporary fuel surcharge above-essentially the same, but with a different name.
15. ENS
ENS , which is the abbreviation of "entry Summary Declaration", refers to the European Customs advance manifest rules. Since January 1, 2011, the EU enforces the "manifest advance declaration" rule on all shipments going to (all goods imported into the EU) or passing through EU ports (all transit cargo, all transit cargo, all undischarged cargo on board, etc.). The rule applies to all EU member states.
16. SCS
SCS's full name is Suez Canal Surcharge. The routes to Europe from Asia, Oceania, East Africa and other regions basically pass through the Suez Canal. When ships pass through the Suez Canal, shipping companies need to pay a certain navigation fee to the canal authorities. This cost is collected by shipowners from customers in the form of Suez Canal surcharge.
17. PTF
PTF's full name is Panama Canal Transit Fee. In the same way as the Suez Canal surcharge, the routes from the far East and the west of the United States to the east of the United States generally pass through the Panama Canal. When ships pass through the Panama Canal, shipping companies need to pay a certain navigation fee to the canal authorities, which shipowners collect from customers in the form of a Panama Canal surcharge.
18. DOC
DOC=Document, in the freight forwarding industry, DOC has two fees, one is the DOC charged by the shipping company, the fixed fee is charged in RMB. The other is the DOC charged at the port of destination, which can be regarded as one of the basic fees at the port of destination. Agents at the port of destination are charged in US dollars, and each agent's fee is different.
19. AMS
Full name is Automatic Manifest System. For U.S.-Canada routes, unique to the United States-all goods to the United States or transferred to other countries or regions via the United States are subject to AMS declaration (24 hours before shipment). AMS is also known as 24-hour manifest system / US counter-terrorism manifest system.
20. TAR
Full name is Temporary Additional Risks. This cost is a little inexplicable, in fact, it can be simply understood as a war surcharge, or another term for a war surcharge.
21. ACI
Full name is Advance Commercial Information. According to the regulations of Canadian Customs, all goods to Canada or goods transferred to other countries through Canada must be declared to Canadian Customs 24 hours before shipment, which is very similar to the AMS of the United States.
22. GRI
GRI's full name is General Rate Increase. It is generally used by South American routes and American routes. Because of the port, ship, fuel, cargo or other reasons, the transportation cost of the shipping company increases obviously, and the shipowner increases the comprehensive rate and surcharge in order to compensate for these increased expenses.
23. CC
The full name is Cleaning Charge, also known as cabin cleaning service fee, cabin cleaning fee. This fee is generally more common in the transportation of bulk goods.
24. BUNKER SURCHARGE OR BUNKER ADJUSTMENT FACTOR--B.A.F.
Charge extra when the price of fuel rises suddenly.
25. TRANSHIPMENT SURCHARGE
All goods destined for non-basic ports need to be transshipped to the port of destination, the surcharge charged by the ship, including transshipment charges and second-way freight.
26. DIRECT ADDITIONAL
When the cargo destined for a non-basic port reaches a certain volume, the shipping company may arrange a surcharge for direct sailing to that port without transshipment.
27. PORT ADDITIONAL OR PORT SUECHARGE
The surcharge charged by shipping companies in some ports due to poor equipment conditions or low loading and unloading efficiency, as well as other reasons.
28. OPTIONAL SURCHARGE
Shipper consignment fashion can not determine the specific port of discharge, it is required to choose one of the two or more ports proposed in advance for unloading, and the ship will charge a surcharge.
29. DEVIATION SURCHARGE
A surcharge imposed by the ship when the ship has to make a detour to transport the goods to the port of destination because the normal waterway is blocked.
30. ALTERNATIONAL OF DESTINATION CHARGE
The surcharge imposed by the consignor for a change in the original port of the goods with the permission of the relevant authorities (such as the Customs) and the consent of the ship.