Maersk Flex Hub Terms
These Maersk Flex Hub Terms apply to the carriage of goods subject to the terms set out below:
1. Definitions
The definitions set out in Maersk’s Terms for Carriage (“Terms for Carriage”), available at https://terms.maersk.com/carriage, shall be adopted and have the same meaning where used in these Flex Hub Terms unless otherwise defined herein.
“Contract of Carriage” means any contract of carriage and any agreement for VAS services, evidenced by a Transport Document and any booking confirmation issued for carriage of goods entered into between Maersk as Carrier and the Merchant whether or not such Transport Document has been physically issued but provided that Goods have been accepted for carriage and the Merchant is entitled to demand a Transport Document.
“Customer” means the party purchasing Flex Hub, any person or entity which falls within the ‘Merchant’ definition as set forth in Maersk’s Terms for Carriage, or any party subrogating the aforementioned parties’ rights in full.
“Flex Hub” means a value-added service enabling a beneficial cargo owner to optimise their supply chain by facilitating detention of goods at Transhipment Ports.
“Transport Document” means a "bill of lading" (whether or not negotiable) or "waybill" or "air waybill" or similar transport document (whether issued in paper or electronic form).
2. Application
2.1 Flex Hub is an add-on service that can only be purchased and applied in conjunction with a Contract of Carriage.
2.2 The Parties agree that these Terms will apply, prevail and govern the services rendered in connection with Flex Hub if:
(i) the Customer has purchased and made a booking request for the subject shipment on or before tendering the Goods to the Carrier; and
(ii) the Carrier has confirmed, by a booking confirmation or otherwise, that Flex Hub will apply to the requested shipment(s) (the “Applicable Shipment”).
The Customer shall notify the Carrier at the time of booking if the Customer wishes to apply for Flex Hub for the booking in question. If the Customer fails to notify Carrier at the time of booking, Carrier shall be under no obligation to provide Flex Hub services to the Customer.
2.3 Notwithstanding any existing terms of any service contract, Contract of Carriage, whether evidenced by a Transport Document or otherwise, these Terms shall co-exist with, and logically amend, vary and supplement the relevant parts of the terms of the Contract of Carriage in so far as necessary, which shall in all other respects remain in full force and effect.
3. Services
3.1 Carrier shall facilitate the detention of full container loads of Customer’s shipment, as requested by the Customer, at the relevant Transhipment Ports.
3.2 The Carrier agrees to provide the Customer a free time period of 21or 28 days starting from the time the Applicable Shipment is discharged at the Transhipment Port. Carrier reserves the right to charge the entire amount, even if the Customer avails only a portion of the selected free time period.
3.3 If the Customer wishes to revise the free time period, the Customer shall do so before the expiration of the original free time period booked by the Customer. In case the Customer desires to keep the Applicable Shipments longer in the hub, the customer can purchase additional free time through weekly block as set in the offer by notifying the Carrier prior to the expiry of the original free time. In case the Customer wishes to terminate the originally agreed free time, the Customer must notify the Carrier of such intention before the expiration of such free time period, and the Carrier then reserves the right to load the cargo on the first available vessel to the initially booked final destination.
4. Liability
4.1 In relation to any and all claims for delivery of the Goods arising out of the services, Carrier’s liability howsoever arising, shall be limited to the charges paid by the Customer for Flex Hub services. The parties acknowledge and agree that the remedies provided under this section shall be the Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy for any claims relating to this service.
4.2 In any other loss or damage to the Goods, liability shall be handled by the terms under the Contract of Carriage.
5. Exclusions
5.1 Without prejudice to the terms of the Contract of Carriage, Carrier shall in any event not be liable for any delay, loss, damage or failure in performance if such has been caused due to events beyond Carrier’s reasonable control of a party including, without limitation, lockouts, circumstances arising from the threat thereof; acts of God, terrorism, war, hostilities, riots, civil disorder, insurrection, embargo, governmental actions (whether informal or formal government acts), pandemic, epidemic or other similar disruptions or interference with trade, marine disaster, fire and or other casualty.
5.2 Notwithstanding any separate contractual obligations that may exist between the parties or any other provision in this Agreement, in no event shall the Carrier be liable, directly or indirectly to the Customer for any special, consequential, indirect (including, but not limited to, loss of production, deferral of production, lost profits, lost sales, lost benefit of utilization, loss of reputation, loss of market share, loss of agreements or contracts, loss of anticipated savings, loss of use or corruption of software, data or information, loss of or damage to goodwill and lost opportunity costs etc.), multiple, exemplary, liquidated or punitive and/or other extraordinary damage suffered by the Customer. The foregoing limitation shall apply regardless of the form of action, whether the damages or other relief sought are based on breach of warranty, breach of contract, tort (including negligence), strict product liability or any other legal or equitable theory, even if the Carrier has been advised of the possibilities of such damages. The prohibition of the foregoing types of damages shall also apply whether the damages are characterized as "contract damages", "tort damages" or otherwise.
5.3 The Customer agrees that their right to rely upon these Flex Hub Terms is subject to the Customer at all times exercising reasonable endeavours to prevent or minimise loss or damage to any Applicable Shipment.
5.4 Flex Hub does not apply for any shipments to or from Cuba, North Korea, Crimea, Syria, Iran and/or Sudan.
5.5 Save as provided for in these Flex Hub terms, the defences available to the Carrier as set out in or applicable to the Contract of Carriage remain in full force and effect.
6. Fees and Charges
6.1 The services shall be charged and invoiced as a surcharge called “FSP” as agreed in the contract and set out in the booking confirmation for the Applicable Shipments.
6.2 Unless otherwise agreed, all prices and rates are exclusive of VAT and any other indirect taxes which may be levied and payable by the Customer
7. Term and Termination
These Flex Hub Terms shall be effective from the valid ‘From date’ and expire on the valid ‘To date’ as agreed between the parties, or the date of expiry of the Service Contract, whichever is earlier. The parties, however, may amend the contract period of these Terms by mutual agreement. Either party may terminate these services, without cause, giving thirty (30) calendar days’ notice to the other party by any means permitted by law or by electronic mail to a party’s representative. Notwithstanding the foregoing, termination or expiry shall be without prejudice to any rights and/or obligations accrued prior to such termination or expiry.
8. Miscellaneous
8.1 The Customer or any person or entity falling within the definition of Merchant and who has the right to claim under the Contract of Carriage, shall have the benefit of these Flex Hub Terms to the exclusion of all other third parties.
8.2 Except as expressly provided for in clause 7.1 above, a person who is not a party to the Contract of Carriage shall not have any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, or otherwise, to enforce any term of these Flex Hub Terms.
8.3 No servant or agent of the Carrier shall have the power to waive or vary any of these Flex Hub Terms unless such waiver or variation is in writing and is specifically authorised or ratified in writing by the Carrier.
8.4 If any provision or part-provision of these Maersk Flex Hub Terms is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision or part-provision shall be deemed deleted. Any modification to or deletion of a provision or part-provision under this clause shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of this agreement.
8.5 Carrier reserves the right to make additions, revisions, or modification to the services as it deems necessary at any time without any prior notice to the Customer.
9. Law & Jurisdiction
9.1 Clause 26 of the Terms for Carriage regarding Law and Jurisdiction shall apply to the Flex Hub Terms and is hereby incorporated as if set out in full herein.