Maersk demurrage & detention tariff
Maersk files demurrage and detention country by country rather than globally, and in many markets bills them as a single merged line. That combination — local tariffs plus a merged invoice line — is why Maersk D&D invoices are among the hardest to check line-by-line, and why overcharges survive on them.
Also searched as: Maersk Line, A.P. Moller-Maersk, MAEU.
Where the tariff is published
Maersk publishes D&D per country and per port under Local Information, with a separate charge-finder that takes the origin, destination and equipment type. There is no single global rate card — the applicable tariff is the one filed for the port of discharge on the date of discharge.
Maersk Demurrage & Detention tariff lookup →How the tariff is structured
| Charge names used on the invoice | Demurrage (import/export, container inside the terminal) and Detention (equipment outside the terminal). Some countries bill a combined "Merged D&D" line instead — the two clocks still run on different rules underneath. |
| Tariff basis | Filed locally per country/port, per equipment type, in tiered day bands that escalate the longer the box is held. |
| Where the clock starts | Import demurrage from discharge (or the day after, depending on the local filing); detention from gate-out of the terminal. |
| US filings | US demurrage is also subject to the FMC Demurrage & Detention rule, which requires the charge to serve a genuine incentive purpose and requires specified information on the invoice itself. |
Typical free time
| Import demurrage free time | Commonly 3–7 calendar days depending on country; shorter on reefer, flat rack and open top. |
| Detention free time | Commonly 3–7 days on dry equipment, frequently 0–3 on reefer. |
| How days count | Calendar days in most filings, including weekends and public holidays, unless the local tariff says otherwise. |
| Extended free time | Purchasable in advance through Maersk’s value-added service; buying it after the charge accrues is normally refused, which is why late detection is expensive. |
Indicative ranges drawn from published local filings and the contracts we see in audit work. They are not a quote: your service contract and the filing at the port of discharge govern. How the two charges are calculated.
What makes Maersk charges disputable
- Combined "Merged D&D" lines hide which clock produced the charge. Ask for the split — a demurrage day charged while the box was already off-terminal is not payable.
- Free time bought as a value-added service is regularly not applied to the final invoice; the booking confirmation is the proof.
- Reefer plug/monitoring fees are billed per day alongside demurrage even where the terminal already charges power under its own tariff — a common double-charge.
- On US imports, days when the container was not actually available for retrieval (no appointment, terminal closure, customs hold not caused by the merchant) are the strongest reversal ground under the FMC rule.
- Rate applied from the wrong country filing after a transhipment or port-of-discharge change.
Holding a Maersk D&D invoice?
Send it over. We check every line against your contract, the local filing and our own dwell record for that voyage, then file the claim on your behalf. The audit is free and our fee is 20% of what we actually recover — nothing if we recover nothing.