Mainfreight Service Announcement | Penalties for FCL booking cancellations

As trade remains strong in the world of ocean freight, carriers are coming up against a continuous challenge of dealing with cancelled bookings and no-show shippers. Ocean carriers are finding the number of cancelations to their bookings committed are increasing significantly, resulting in shortfalls and hindering them from servicing their client base. It is estimated that no-shows cost the industry $23bn per year in additional costs.

Carriers are now seeking a way to reduce the cancellations and no-shows. One carrier, CMA CGM are now implementing a “Booking Cancellation Fee” of $150 per TEU which will be levied against booking cancellations or transfers made less than seven days before the sailing date. In addition, the fee will also be applied to any no-shows. We expect other carriers to follow CMA CGM as they look to keep utilization high and reduce their shortfalls on all trades.

If you have any queries and would like to know if this is going to affect you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your local Mainfreight contact.