A shipper consortium from New York claims Maersk failed to provide space the consortium had contracted for, and instead sold the space to others at higher spot prices. So the consortium members had to procure their slots on the spot market too.
The consortium, U Shippers Group, claims Maersk also offered their space to another shipping consortium, in violation of the contract. U Shippers believes the damage is over $180 million.
The contract with U Shippers had a volume incentive3 program (VIP), based on the number of containers shipped. Because space was not provided, U Shippers did not get credit for payments they would have received had the space been available.
It’s a nasty dispute. I suspect that this was a result of a local office of Maersk taking some liberties. The picture may not be totally clear, either; perhaps some of the shipments were a little iffy.
It will be interesting to follow up and see the FMC decision in the case. It won’t be settled for over 6 months.
By Nick Savvides 02/09/2022
Maersk faces $180m claim for US shipper losses in legal row over contract – The Loadstar
Supply Chain and Logistics 