Maersk Ocean Rate Anchor

1. Definitions

Affiliates - In relation to Maersk, means any entity controlled by AP Moller Maersk A/S, which we choose to directly employ in this Agreement. In relation to you, any entity of the same group-ownership, which has been listed in the Contract Output.

Agreement - Any reference to the “Agreement” is a reference to this legally binding agreement entered into by the parties as well as any other terms incorporated by reference.

Booking Confirmation - The Booking Confirmation is the formal confirmation from Maersk that your service request for a given shipment was received and tentatively accepted, subject to the terms of the Agreement.

Charges - Charges are any and all freight, costs, fees, expenses, commissions, duties, penalties, compensation, surcharges, charges, or any other amounts whatsoever payable to us in respect of the services provided to you under this Agreement, as set out in the Contract Output or, in case of silence, in Maersk’s public tariff available at our website.

Contract Output - The Contract Output or Quote Output, is a document containing the key commercial terms of this Agreement, including (a) the parties’ details; (b) the Term of this Agreement; (c) the parties’ Affiliates entitled to book services under the Agreement; (d) Charges; (e) Port Pairs and other elements.

Customer Hub - Our online application where you have access to book shipments, amend bookings, manage credit and payments, monitor volume allocation (if any), among other functionalities.

Equipment - Equipment refers to a container or containers. The defined term “Equipment” does not include any extra equipment beyond the container itself or any special equipment (e.g. flat racks, open tops, chassis).

Equipment Drop Off Point - The Equipment Drop Off Point is the place set out in the Booking Confirmation as the place at which you will return the Equipment.

Equipment Pick Up Point - The Equipment Pick Up Point is the place set out in the Booking Confirmation as the place at which you will pick up the Equipment. 

Free Time - The Free Time is a period during which you will not be liable to pay us detention and demurrage Charges. Your Free Time entitlement is set out in the Contract Output, in the Free Time Appendix, or as otherwise set out in https://terms.maersk.com/dnd.

Goods - means the whole or any part of the cargo and any packaging accepted from you including any Equipment not provided by us, any packing case, pallet, container, flat rack, platform, trailer, transportable tank or other item used for or in connection with the carriage of Goods by any means whatsoever. 

Inland Corridor - An Inland Corridor is an inland route between an ocean terminal and an inland location or vice versa.

Ocean Base Rates - Ocean Base Rates or Basic Ocean Freight, or “BAS”, are the base ocean freight rates agreed by the parties which do not include surcharges, accessorial charges, or any other charges that may otherwise be applicable to the ocean transportation of cargo.

Ocean Contract Product General Terms and Conditions - the Ocean Contract Product General Terms and Conditions are standard terms and conditions applicable to this Agreement, which are available at https://terms.maersk.com/GTC.

Port Pair - A Port Pair is a load port and a discharge port, between which we may have agreed to carry Goods under this Agreement for a specified rate.

Term - The Term is the total period from the contract effective date to the contract expiry date, as set out in the Contract Output.

Terms for Carriage - The terms for carriage of Goods under this Agreement, which are available at https://terms.maersk.com/carriage.

References to “you” or “your” are references to the shipper. References to “we” or “our” are references to Maersk A/S.

2. Scope of this Agreement

a) This Agreement incorporates: (i) the Contract Output; (ii) the Ocean Contract Product General Terms and Conditions; and (iii) the Terms for Carriage.

b) This Agreement sets out the terms on which we have agreed rates and volumes for ocean carriage and ancillary value-added services, as set out in the Contract Output. This Agreement applies and shall be valid for the duration of the Term.

c) Capitalised terms in this Agreement have the meaning given to them in the Definitions section in this Agreement.

d) This Agreement, including any potential future amendments or extensions, represents the entire agreement between the parties.  Any terms and conditions that are included in any booking request or other communication sent by you in the formation of the Agreement, shall be of no effect in construing this Agreement or any booking made pursuant to this Agreement.

e) In the absence of any express prior acceptance, the act of making a booking under this Agreement shall be deemed to be your irrevocable acceptance of this Agreement and all its supporting documentation in the last version sent by us.

3. Services under this Agreement

3.1 The Basics

a) You intend to tender for carriage a volume of cargo across the Term in relation to Port Pairs set out in the Contract Output.  You shall be obliged to tender for carriage and we shall be obliged to accept a minimum cargo quantity of 1 FFE under this Agreement.

b) Except for the minimum cargo quantity above, we do not guarantee schedules, vessel capacity, inland capacity, or of any Equipment under this Agreement. If we are unable to accept bookings, load your cargoes, or if your bookings are rolled or cancelled for any reason whatsoever, we will not be liable to you. 

c) We may (but are not obliged to) assign a certain space allocation in our vessels, visible in the Customer Hub, reflecting how our tentative schedules and operational plans are estimated to align with the volume of containers you indicated as being your plan to tender for carriage during the Term. Such allocation shall not be construed as a guarantee, or in any way amending what is agreed upon herein.

3.2 Making a booking

a) Bookings may be made by you or your agents via Customer Hub, within the booking window allowed by us. We are not liable for any issues in making a booking, any system outage whatsoever, or issues with third-party booking platforms. 

b) Our web-booking platform provides information as to the cut-off times applicable to each port. That information is indicative only and without guarantee, we are not liable if a booking is made late based on that information.

3.3 Equipment

a) We may provide the Equipment indicated in the Booking Confirmation, or a reasonable alternative, but are not obliged by this Agreement to do so.  You will not be charged for any booking where we are unable to provide Equipment or a reasonable alternative.

b) The Equipment shall be made available to you for pick-up at the Equipment Pick Up Point, on the release date stated in the Booking Confirmation.  If you fail to pick up the Equipment accordingly, we reserve the right to cancel any bookings affected by such failure.

c) You shall return the Equipment to the Equipment Drop Off Point, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and within the applicable dates for the return of Equipment as per Booking Confirmation.

3.4 Inland Transportation

a) If inland transportation is part of your booking, you must provide at the time of making any booking all documents and information that are required or desirable for us to arrange inland transportation, including but not limited to: (a) VGM documentation; (b) inland shipping Instructions; (c) inland dispatch order, including customer facility address, operational window; and (d) MSDS, if required. We may request additional documents for inland transportation in our reasonable discretion. 

b) Inland rates may increase or decrease throughout the Term, including to reflect pricing issues related to congestion, premiums, line haul changes based on the condition of the respective inland operating environments, or for any other reasons whatsoever. If there is an increase or decrease in inland rates appliable to this Agreement, we will provide written notice to you setting out any cost increases (an “Inland Rate Review”). If the Parties do not agree to the proposed Inland Rate Review, each party shall have the right to cancel the affected Inland Corridor(s) but this cancellation if exercised shall not extend to any ocean carriage under this Agreement.

c) Any request for inland transportation that differs in any way from the inland transportation that we have provided rates for in the Contract Output, will be considered a request for additional transportation services and this Agreement will not apply for such additional inland transportation.

3.5 Cancellation

a) If you cancel a booking after we have accepted such booking, you will be required to pay detention and demurrage charges at the rates stated in the Free Time Appendix, in respect of each item of Equipment collected and Free Time will be reduced to zero.  Any other costs in connection with the booking or the cancellation shall be payable by you against reasonable evidence of the costs incurred and with the application of a 10% management fee. 

4. Rates

a) We agree that cargo booked for carriage under this Agreement will be subject to the Charges.

b) The Ocean Base Rates contained in the Contract Output shall be fixed throughout the Term, except for the portion which relates to inclusive surcharges (i.e. floating surcharges added to and displayed together with the amount of the Ocean Base Rates).

c) All Charges other than Ocean Base rates shall be subject to surcharges, as set out in the Ocean Contract Product General Terms and Conditions.

5. Remedies

a) This Agreement does not set out the parties’ liability for loss or damage to Goods or other liabilities arising during carriage. Carriage of any Goods booked under this Agreement will be governed by our Terms for Carriage. Notwithstanding this clause, nothing in our Terms for Carriage shall in any way restrict us from relying on the full effect of the limitations of liability in this Agreement (including the Ocean Contract Product General Terms and Conditions) in respect of any booking made in connection with this Agreement.

b) We shall, under no circumstance whatsoever, be liable under this Agreement for: indirect, consequential, special or punitive damages, loss of profit or revenue, loss of use, loss of business, goodwill or reputation, delay or any other similar losses whatsoever.

6. Local Information

Unless otherwise specifically provided for under this Agreement, you are aware and will comply at all times with the local service delivery rules available at Local Information | International shipping | Maersk.

7. Add-On Services

7.1   Ocean VAS Products

a) At the time of making a booking, you may request value-added services that are offered through our booking platform (the “Ocean VAS Products”). The Ocean VAS Products may be available via our online portal or by contacting your customer support team.

b) We do not guarantee the availability of any Ocean VAS Products. If we cannot provide the Ocean VAS Product(s) you requested, this will not be considered a failure of our service commitment, or otherwise a breach or non-performance of this Agreement whatsoever.

c) If we are able to provide the requested Ocean VAS Product(s), we will confirm this in the Booking Confirmation and the relevant Ocean VAS Product(s) will be available at our applicable tariff rate. The tariff rate will be payable on top of and on the same terms as the ocean freight.

d) The provision of the Ocean VAS Products is at all times subject to this Agreement, then the relevant terms available at the links below shall apply:

7.2 Weighing and VGM Service

a) This section applies if you have selected the Weighing and VGM (“Weighing and VGM”) value-added service to apply to all of your cargo on particular routes or notified us of your request to do so at the time of making a Booking. Weighing and VGM is an Ocean VAS Product by which we procure services to weigh your cargo and transmit the weight data to the export loading terminal.

b) We will charge you the fee for the Weighing and VGM services as set out in the Charges. This fee is payable on top of and on the same terms as the ocean freight. 

c) The Weighing and VGM services are provided entirely at your risk. You will indemnify us in relation to all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, costs, delays, attorney fees and/or expenses caused to us or our subcontractors, servants or agents or to any other cargo or to the owner of such cargo during the carriage that arises from, results from or is connected to the Weighing and VGM.

d) Nothing in our provision of the Weighing and VGM services will in any way amend, alter or affect the application of the Terms for Carriage to your Booking.

7.3 Premium Container Service

a) This section applies if you have selected the Premium Container (“Premium Quality Container”) value-added service to apply to all of your cargo on particular routes or notified us of your request to do so at the time of making a Booking. Premium Quality Container is an Ocean VAS Product by which we provide you with a container of a certain premium grade.

b) Where we confirm that we will provide the Premium Quality Container service we will provide you with a container we regard as suitable to the type of products that you intend to ship. You may request Grade M (food grade) or Grade S (flexi tank) or Grade K. We will endeavour to provide you with the requested grade. However, where the requested grade is not available, we are entitled to offer lower you a lower grade of premium container.

c) We will charge you the fee for the Premium Quality Container service as set out in the Charges. This fee is payable on top of and on the same terms as the ocean freight. 

d) Nothing in our provision of the Premium Quality Container service will in any way amend, alter or affect the application of the Terms for Carriage to your Booking.

8. FMC

a) It may be necessary for the Agreement to be filed with the United States Federal Maritime Commission (the “FMC”). If we, in our sole discretion, consider that it is necessary for the Agreement to be filed with the FMC, this Clause 8 shall apply in its entirety. If we determine that a filing with the FMC is not necessary, the remainder of Clause 8 shall not apply.

b) By agreeing to the Agreement, you certify that you are an owner of cargo. If you are not an owner of Cargo, then you understand that we may ask for further proof of your “Merchant” status. In the event you are not authorized to act as a “Merchant” or an “NVOCC” for any reason whatsoever and the FMC filing of this Agreement is not possible, then this Agreement shall be rendered null and void solely in relation to port pairs subject to the jurisdiction of FMC, without the application of any Cancellation fee.

c) If you have appointed an agent, you shall submit a Letter of Authority (“LOA”) as the owner of Cargo within 48 hours of submitting the first booking. The LOA shall be valid for a period of one (1) year, after which, at our request, you shall provide us with a renewed LOA. We shall have the right to cancel any booking even after the Booking Confirmation, without the application of any Cancellation fee, if:

  • • no LOA has been provided by you within 48 hours of submitting the booking;
  • • incorrect details/information have been provided by you; or
  • • You are found not to be a valid Shipper under the U.S. Shipping Act.

Effectiveness of the Agreement

d) If, for any reason whatsoever, the Agreement (including any future amendments) is not filed with and validated by the FMC, we reserve the right, at our discretion, to terminate the Agreement in its entirety or solely in relation to routes under the jurisdiction of the FMC.

Documents supporting performance

e) Any of the following may constitute records supporting performance of the Agreement, and may be shared with the FMC if requested:

  • • Any transport document;
  • • Any manifest data;
  • • Any electronic data processing reports;
  • • Any statements prepared by you relating to the cargo shipped under the Agreement, 
  • • Any booking made pursuant to the Agreement; and
  • • Any written communications issued by us regarding any of the above.

46 CFR 530.15

f) Our representative’s address, telephone number and title who will respond to a request made pursuant to 46 CFR 530.15 is Regulatory Affairs, Maersk Agency U.S.A. Inc. 180 Park Avenue, Florham Park, NJ 07932, fax: 973-514-5214.

g) The term "Tariff" means Maersk A/S Transport Document Publication Tariff, Regulated Contract Essential Terms Tariff and any other tariffs (including freight rate increases applicable to the movement of any commodities, charges, surcharges, rules, obligations, indemnities, regulations, arbitraries/additionals or terms in the Tariffs published by us and applicable to the carriage of cargo in the trades covered by the Agreement). The full texts, including subsequent modifications of such Tariff, are published at www.maersk.com.

h) In case of a dispute arising under or relating to this Agreement for the payment of freight and charges, such dispute shall be handled pursuant to the law and jurisdiction clause in our bill of lading. 

i) If we send you a written offer to add a new rate, or replace an expiring rate (which rate would be less than Tariff) to these Terms for a specific origin/destination/commodity/container size/type, you shall be deemed to have accepted such offer by (i) providing us with written acceptance of such offer or (ii) the action of you tendering cargo to us after the date of our rate offer for the same origin/destination/commodity/container type/size.
 

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