International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is the governing body for all the major shipping-lines.
The IMO have decreed that effective December 01st 2019, all ships and vessels worldwide will be required to reduce their sulphur emissions.
The blunt instrument addressing these emissions is a Low Sulphur Fuel Surcharge (LSS) placing a global cap on sulphur emissions.
This is where it gets complicated.
The LSS charge is not a ‘standard’ fixed amount per container.
It will vary by shipping-line, shipping route.
Please bear in mind all importers/exporters have been up-to this point ‘artificially’ paying this surcharge under the guise of emergency risk, bunker surcharges etc.
It’s now going to be a separate charge.
The entire increase imposed by each shipping-line won’t be passed-on, since a portion of it was already included in the over-all rate.
Some of the LSS will therefore be negated in a decrease in other surcharges.
We’ll be breaking-down ‘in bite sized portions’ the impact of this surcharge will have shortly.
Full containers, less-than-container-load.
Region by region.
Shipping-line by shipping-line.
