As we previously have touched upon, market developments in recent months have lead to an increased demand in the time charter market, which has caused time charter rates to rise with more than 50%.
This development is expected to continue in the coming months, and it is accompanied by a number of challenges which put additional pressure on operating costs. The vessel shortage, which particularly concerns Unifeeder’s core vessel
segment with a capacity of 800 TEU or more, has made it progressively more challenging to engage in short term charter agreements. This has made schedule recovery and contingencies difficult. Moreover, the sudden rise in trade volume has caused an increasing imbalance between import and export cargo. This has caused congestion in key ports, which has lead to delays and increased bunker costs as delays do not allow the vessels to apply economic speed.
Consequently, Unifeeder is forced to implement a Cost Recovery Surcharge on all feeder cargo to and from the continental base ports and Scandinavia, the Baltic States, Poland and Russia.
The Cost Recovery Surcharge of EUR 25/TEU is in effect as from September 1 2010
We regret being forced to seek partial cost recovery from our customers in line with recovery efforts done in the larger trades, however it is a necessary means to maintaining the high level of flexibility and service which we always strive to deliver.
