Samsung Electronics America (SEA) has lodged a complaint with the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) against the Taiwanese carrier Wan Hai Lines for wrongly charging them over $1.2 million in Detention and Demurrage (D& D) fees from 2020 to 2022 for using containers inside the terminal beyond the free time period or for using containers outside the terminal or depot, beyond the free time period.
Samsung argued that these costs had been unfairly charged to the shipper, as Wan Hai was responsible for the transport leg.
Under store-door agreements, the carrier is responsible for transporting goods from the port to the inland delivery point. Samsung claims that Wan Hai continued to charge late delivery penalties, even though the congestion and operational bottlenecks fell within the carrier’s own area of responsibility.
The complaint filed with the FMC alleged that Wan Hai had breached certain sections of the US Shipping Act and had failed to initiate an appropriate dispute resolution procedure regarding the contested invoices.
Translation by Giles Foster
