French container shipping company CMA CGM S A on Tuesday started levying an Emergency Space Surcharge (ESS) of $200 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) from South East India ports as the cascading impact of global equipment shortages, port congestion and shipping delays including in India, creates space constraints on ships and force freight rates to soar to record levels. The South East India ports includes Kolkata, Cochin, Ennore, Haldia, Kattupalli, Krishnapatnam, Chennai, Pipavav, Tuticorin and Visakhapatnam. The destination covered include North Europe, Scandinavia and Poland, Baltic, East and West Mediterranean, North Africa, Morocco, Red Sea, South America West Coast, Central America East Coast and the Caribbean, Central America West Coast and Mexico West Coast, Leeward, Windward, French Guiana and French West Indies. The emergency space surcharge will be charged on dry, reefer, out of gauge (OOG) - container size beyond 40 high cube - and paying empties, until further notice. Soaring ratesContainer shipping rates from India have soared over the past few months.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 16, 2020 13:18 UTC