‘Unenforceable’ Container Detention Fees: Action To Recover Or Resist Fees?

As reported in our E-Alert sent out on 7 May 2010 in recent a Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal of New South Wales ("Tribunal") decision the Tribunal held that container detention fee charges by an Australian agent of an international shipping company was an unenforceable penalty. The container detention fee would only have been enforceable if it was a genuine pre-estimate of the damages expected to be suffered from the late return or non-return of a shipping container.

The decision confirms what many in the industry have previously thought, that the rate of container detention fees has no relationship to the potential, or actual, loss suffered by the shipping company.

This is an issue that affects thousands of importers and their service providers in the supply chain and many have often felt powerless in the face of a demand for container detention fees from a shipping company or their agent. Unsurprisingly, following on from our recent E-Alert and the