Freight Forwarder Says Zim Unfairly Charged It for Lengthy Detention
Ocean carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Services unfairly charged more than $136,000 in fees for a cargo container that spent more than 20 months in detention, Baylink Shipping said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission.
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In the complaint, which the FMC posted online Nov. 25, Baylink, a New York-based non-vessel operating common carrier, said that ZIM transported the 40-foot-high cube container from China to Houston in 2021 and “wrongly and improperly” delivered it to a trucking company other than Baylink’s designated trucker. When Baylink, the container’s consignee, learned the container had not been returned to ZIM in a timely manner, it asked ZIM to identify the trucker it had used but was rebuffed.
The container was finally returned in April 2023 after a 628-day detention. ZIM later gave Baylink an invoice for $136,920 in detention charges, which “far outstripped the cost of a new replacement container,” the complaint says. Baylink said it was never informed it would be responsible for any detention fees.
During the detention period, "Baylink could not and did not exercise care, custody or control over the container, so imposing detention charges on Baylink would not incentivize Baylink to facilitate the return [of] the container," the complaint says. “In fact, it was ZIM’s own actions and omissions that precluded Baylink from facilitating the timely return of the container.”
Baylink is asking the FMC to order ZIM to stop trying to collect the charges. ZIM had no immediate comment on the complaint.