Ocean Network Express (ONE) has announced the imposition of a new penalty fee in case of incorrect declaration of cargo details at the time of booking.
The Singapore-headquartered container line explained that the Weight Discrepancy Surcharge (WDS) will be implemented if an incorrect statement of the load data is detected, including, but not limited to, the load weight, which deviates more than +/- 3TON / TEU from the final Bill of Lading Instruction details and Verified Gross Mass (VGM) documentation.
In relation to the VGM amendment and misdeclaration after VGM cutoff, the applicable amendment and misdeclaration fees shall apply to concerned shipments.
The WDS will be US$2,000 per container and will be valid from 1 July 2022 (booking receipt date). ONE noted that the fee will be implemented in the Asia - Europe trade, only for westbound sailings.
"The implementation of this misdeclaration penalty will support the operational safety
for everyone in the cargo handling network, both on shore and aboard ship," said ONE, adding that "the penalty fee also safeguards the commercial integrity of our agreements with all our customers."
