Because of this year's light snow fall in Canada, the spring run-off did not bring St Lawrence River-Great Lakes water levels to normal. This made it impossible to fully load ships at inland ports, thus bringing about a loss for the shipping company, thus justifying the surcharge.
"This is the wackiest thing I have ever seen," Paul Coorsh, Montreal branch manager for Synergex Logistics Corporation.
"There have been fuel and currency adjustment surcharges by carriers, but it's the first time a steamship line is charging for low water," he told London's Containerisation International.
The outburst comes after CMA CGM (Canada) Inc announced in an notice to customers earlier this month that surcharges of US$40 per TEU and US$80 per FEU will be levied in this respect.
The report said that industry experts regard the low water surcharges as an attempt to offset weaker revenues with vessels unable to load at full capacity.
"It's a commercial decision by CMA CGM in a difficult global shipping environment," said Chris Gillespie, president of Gillespie-Munro Inc. "It remains to be seen whether other carriers will pick up and do the same."
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