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On September 9, a Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge rejected Peloton Interactive's claim against Flexport in full. The company had sought $33.7 million in detention, demurrage, and storage charges accumulated during the pandemic-era supply chain disruption. It recovered nothing. The breakdown of what was claimed is instructive. Roughly $13.8 million in demurrage, $16.2 million in equipment detention, and $3.7 million in yard and warehouse storage, across th

A voyage charter gives the charterer a fixed period to load and discharge. Use less and the owner may owe despatch. Use more and the charterer owes demurrage. Between those two outcomes sits a calculation that is arithmetically simple and legally treacherous, and most disputes turn on which hours counted rather than on how the addition was done. The Laytime Definitions for Charter Parties 2013 define laytime as the period of time agreed between the parties during which the ow

In normal market conditions, demurrage disputes are a routine feature of the shipping industry; frustrating, often contentious, but generally predictable in their mechanics. In a market shaped by the kind of disruption we are currently seeing in the Persian Gulf, with vessels stranded, ports congested, and voyage timelines collapsing, demurrage claims are going to multiply in volume and complexity at a rate the industry has not seen in decades. What Demurrage Actually Is Demu