Container detention fees likely to become a bigger pressure point

Introduction

As many readers would be aware, from 1 August 2012, several container shipping lines have reduced the "free" container time from 10 days to 7 days. The CBFCA and the VTA have already expressed their significant concern regarding the move and the likely associated costs for the entire supply chain. The move by the lines comes after their "winning" outcome in a recent decision ("Cosco Decision") by the District Court of NSW in March 2012, whereby it was held that container detention fees charged by Cosco Shipping ("Cosco") and its Australian agent, Five Star Shipping and Agency Company ("Five Star") were enforceable as against a freight forwarding company. An article regarding the Cosco Decision was recently published in the Shipping Australia Journal for Winter 2012 ("Journal"). The editorial in the same edition of the Journal welcomed the Cosco Decision in a way which suggested that the issue of the enforceability of such container detention fees had