Maersk Adds an Oceania Peak Season Surcharge From November 1: Five Questions Importers Are Asking

Maersk has confirmed a peak season surcharge on dry containers from Asia to Oceania, effective from the November 1 pricing date until further notice. Here is what shippers need to know.

What exactly is being charged?

For Australia, US$500 per 20ft container and US$1,000 per 40ft. For New Zealand, US$300 and US$600 respectively on the same box sizes. The surcharge applies to non-SPOT bookings only, so cargo booked through Maersk's online SPOT product is excluded - contract and regular spot bookings are not.

Why is this landing now?

Fuel is part of it: Singapore VLSFO bunker was quoted at US$905.50 per tonne on October 13, up from US$876.50 on October 1. But the November pricing landscape is broader. ANL, part of the same group, began rate restorations on selected trades on October 15, with some Asia-Australia spot and FAK restorations kicking in from November 1. OOCL raised its emergency bunker surcharge the same day, US$450 per non-reefer 40ft import box from eligible origins, excluding China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

How bad are the delays, really?

• The five main Australian ports averaged 21% on-time arrivals in September, against a January-August average of 33%.
• Late vessels ran an average of 6.8 days behind: Sydney 23% on time (6.5 days late), Brisbane 23% (6.3), Melbourne 21% (7.4), Fremantle 19% (6.0), Adelaide 17% (7.7).
• Upstream, global schedule reliability stood at 49.9% in August, the lowest since September 2022, with Asian loading ports the slowest link in the chain.

One mitigating datapoint: blank sailings on the Australia trade have eased from 13.9% three months ago to 8.8%, so skipped port calls are becoming less frequent.

What should importers do?

Three things. Fold the surcharge into landed-cost calculations for November contract shipments before negotiating. Confirm whether your booking is priced as SPOT or not, so the fee is not a surprise at destination. And build in at least a week of extra transit buffer for Melbourne and Adelaide-bound cargo, the two weakest performers. Landside is another watch item: truck turnaround at DP World West Swanson in Melbourne runs two to three hours, with some operators reporting waits up to seven hours after civil works cut roughly 1,100 TEU of ground capacity. New Australian biosecurity instruments took effect on October 1, so check documentation against them. If November volumes justify it, asking carriers for an all-in quote that already bakes in the surcharge is a reasonable request in the current cycle, and it removes a line item that can otherwise be disputed at destination. For corridor options, see our Australia route guide.

Source: Based on the Maersk customer advisory, Seabridge Global Logistics and Magellan Logistics market updates, and eeSea schedule reliability data.