South Korean liner company Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) is joining the club of liner giants that are planning to add fuel adjustment surcharge ahead of the 2020 sulphur cap.
The company said that the surcharge would be introduced in January 2019 as a means of compensating for the rising fuel costs stemming from the 2020 low-sulphur fuel regime.
The 2020 sulphur regulation, which will ban ships from using any marine fuel with a sulphur content above 0.5 pct as of January 1, 2020, is expected to impose a heavy burden on owners as the annual fuel costs for the shipping industry are likely to jump by up to USD 60 billion , including by USD 10 billion for the containership sector alone.
As a result, liner companies are transferring a huge portion of the operating costs to shippers, a move which has not been warmly welcomed .
HMM is following in the footsteps of OOCL , Hapag-Lloyd , MSC, CMA CGM and Maersk Line .
World Maritime News Staff