Carrier Charged Excessive Fees for Inland Transportation, Samsung Says
HMM Co. Ltd., formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. Ltd., has charged unfair demurrage and detention fees for inland transportation since 2020, Samsung Electronics America (SEA) alleged in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission on May 30.
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SEA, which imports home appliances, phones, tablets, smartwatches and other consumer electronics into the U.S., said the “staggering costs of demurrage and detention charges were unsustainable, presented a material threat to SEA’s ability to provide its products to American consumers, and made it necessary to bring this complaint.”
SEA accused HMM, an ocean carrier, of “holding containers hostage and threatening to cut off further services” if SEA did not pay the detention and demurrage fees. The charges resulted from shipping delays that HMM should have anticipated and that were not SEA's responsibility, such as chassis shortages, terminal congestion and other supply chain problems that surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, the complaint said.
SEA said it has paid more than 96,000 demurrage, detention and associated charges to HMM. The companies tried to resolve their dispute through discussions but reached an impasse, and HMM declined to participate in mediation, the complaint says. SEA is asking the FMC to order HMM to pay "reparations" and stop its unfair fees.
HMM didn’t respond to a request for comment.