On the occasion of Maersk Honam’s berthing and the commencement of discharging operations on 22 May, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) announced that it is imposing additional charges to its customers if they want their cargo to reach the final destination.
The 15,000 TEU boxship was en route from Singapore to Suez, on 6 March, when it sustained a serious fire in one of its cargo holds, southeast of Salalah, Oman, resulting in five dead crewmen. 22 crew members were successfully evacuated.
In consideration of the important geographical deviation provoked by the salvage operations and of the consecutive extra handling/storage costs that will accrue at port of refuge, MSC will unfortunately not be in position to carry your cargo to destination without collecting additional charges.
The company is therefore requesting an amount of 750 USD per 20’/1250 USD per 40’. This amount is destined to cover all additional transshipment, storage and on-carriage costs MSC will face as the result of the casualty.
We are profoundly sorry for these additional costs which are imposed on us by the situation.
Earlier, Maersk Line notified that berthing and discharging operations after the accident will result in high extraordinary costs. As a result, it decided to declare General Average.
