MSC Imposes Emergency Fuel Surcharge on Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea Cargo

By Bosphorus News Economy Desk

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company announced on March 7 that it will apply an Emergency Fuel Surcharge to all cargo departing from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to the Indian Sub-Continent, Red Sea and East Africa, effective March 16. The measure explicitly covers the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece and Türkiye, alongside the Western Mediterranean and Adriatic. A revised advisory issued on March 12 extended the surcharge until further notice.

The rates vary by destination and container type. Shipments from the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea to the Red Sea carry a charge of $70 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) for dry containers and $100 per TEU for refrigerated cargo. East Africa routes are priced at $155 per dry TEU and $230 per refrigerated TEU. Indian Sub-Continent shipments are set at $85 per dry TEU and $130 per refrigerated TEU.

CMA CGM announced a parallel emergency fuel surcharge across its services, with both measures taking effect within days of each other. Cosco Shipping and Hapag-Lloyd have separately announced suspensions to services in the Middle East.

Tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz dropped sharply after US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, cutting expected Middle Eastern fuel oil shipments into Asia and driving up bunker costs across the board. Market participants are seeking replacement cargoes from the US Gulf Coast, Mediterranean markets and long-haul supply redirected from Western supply centres. Spot rate indices on the Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trades have risen week on week. Rates to the US West Coast have surged sharply across the transpacific.

Turkish and Greek exporters and importers now face higher costs on routes to South Asia, East Africa and the Gulf. Carriers have signalled further increases across Asia-Europe services from mid-March.