The Did You Knows? Sea Container Demurrage and Detention - New Zealand

Container free time appears in two types, demurrage and detention.

Demurrage - the time containers are allowed on the NZ Port prior to carrier collection (or drop off in the case of exports).

 Imports: Free time for general cargo is 3 calendar days on imports from the time the container is offloaded from the ship and the import vessel has departed. Times are generally rounded to 6am of the 4th calendar day (public holidays etc are regarded as full business days unless otherwise stipulated).

 For Dangerous Goods (DG) cargo, free time is 24 hours from the time the container is offloaded from the ship and the import vessel has departed.

 Exports: Free time for general cargo is 7 calendar days on exports from the time the container is delivered to the port until the arrival of the intended export vessel. Note; if a vessel is delayed in arrival pushing the ETA outside of the 7 calendar day window, demurrage will be incurred even though the original ETA was within the initial free time.

 Containers delivered to or collected from the Port by carriers outside of this time period will incur demurrage charges by the Port of operation.

Detention - the time containers are allowed to be available to the consignee (or consignor in the case of exports) prior to acceptance of the container to the Port of Export or Empty Container Dehire Yard for Imports.

 Generally, this is 7 calendar days for most carriers by default to allow for loading/unloading, however this can be negotiated with shipping lines; please talk to the Hobbs Global Team to discuss this further.

 Containers delivered to the Port of Export or the Empty Container Dehire Yard outside of this time period will incur charges by the Shipping Line.

 Both demurrage and detention charges are used as a means to encourage container and operational turnover, to minimise Port backlogs/congestion and ensure containers are readily available for reuse where applicable.

 If you'd like more information, or to discuss how demurrage and/or detention timings may affect your shipments, please get in contact with the Hobbs Global Team; info@hobbsglobal.co.nz.