Vol XXXVI: It has been ruled that the ship-owner must bear the cost of the warehousing at the substitute port and of forwarding the cargo to its destination. People need to know this and should not be paying these additional fees.
By SHMUEL MANTIBANDshipping88(photo credit: )For Shipping resources click here.Shmuel Mantinband works with Unigroup UTS Sonigo, partners in the parent company of Mayflower and United Van Lines. He still remembers with great pain his lifts when he made aliya over 30 years ago.Send us your questions for Shmuel and please leave your comments on the Q&A below.
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Volumes XXXIII-XXXIVVol XXXVIQ: I'm very concerned that the response to the query sugar-coated the very serious situation with cross-ocean shippers. It does not
matter if the company is "reputable" or not, it is a very dirty business with little scruples and non-existant regulation. Often movers use flex clauses for every feature, while claiming an estimate is the bottom line, and then nickel-and-dime the customer out of thousands more. Perhaps you cannot say such a thing for risk of discouraging aliyah, but more solid advice is
needed - not just insulting the customer's intelligence, which is tactic #1 in the shipper's guide to abuse.
A: My original comments still stand.
I would make a general comment that yes, there are crooks in our business, just like there are crooks in every business. (Just ask the
people who invested in "reputable" investment banks like Lehman Brothers.)
But it is not fair to say cross ocean shippers have no scruples. I would be happy to look over your shipment's paperwork to see if something wrong was done with your shipment and if appropriate, help you file a suit in small claims court. In the past I have been an "expert
witness" and helped others with information and direction.
At the same time, you are right, some shipping agents write their quotes in such a way as to "build in" extra charges. Some excluded charges are appropriate as they rarely occur - things like long carry (usually over 20 meters from the truck to the entrance of your home) or difficult access requiring a small shuttle vehicle. These are unusual situations
and a mover is justified in charging extra for these situations.
At this time, there are also unexpected and unusual extra charges due to the strike / slowdown at the ports. Vessels are skipping Israeli ports and off loading containers in nearby ports. This allows them to maintain their schedules, however they have been charging for the "extra" voyage to Israel.
In addition, due to the long wait to get into port and unload their containers, the shipping lines have been charging a "congestion"
surcharge. Again, all these charges are unfortunately, the responsibility of the shipper - the owner of the goods.
Other charges that are known in advance should be stated up front and there is no need for a surprise with them. These *known* fees include
THC (Terminal Handling Charges), unstuffing or unloading and port fees. I have seen a number of quotes that include these items in the "not
included" section of the quote.
This is not right because these fees are always charged and known in advance.
So, bottom line, there is a reason companies with a good reputation, have that good reputation. That is why I always recommend getting 2 or 3 quotes from *recommended* companies.
My main interest is in encouraging successful aliyah and having a good shipping experience is an early step in that process.
Q: I want to write to you and let you know that you are very wrong in telling people that are making aliya that their items getting shipped to a different port due to EOV that they have to pay additional fees. According to the bill of lading and the Hague Visby law (which every shipping company follows) that the discharge of any cargo under the provisions of this clause "should it appear that a strike prevents the vessel from entering the port of discharge or there discharging in the usual manner and leaving again safely and without delay the master may discharge the cargo at the port of loading or any other safe and convenient port" that this shall be deemed due fulfilment of the contract.
The international court has held that the clause is invalid, first because it was repugnant to the duty to discharge at the port named in the Bill of lading as destination and secondly because it constitued an exemption from the shipowner's liability under the Hague Rules Art III section 2 which provides that the shipowner shall properly discharge the cargo.
It has been ruled that the ship-owner must bear the cost of the warehousing at the substitute port and of forwarding the cargo to its destination. He cannot treat discharge elsewhere as due fulfilment of the contract. People need to know this and should not be paying these additional fees.
A: Thank you for your message about maritime law.
As you can imagine, I am not a lawyer. That being said, I know, in fact, the shipping lines are charging for the extra trip to Israel.
The only way we can pull the container for delivery is by paying these extra fees.
I do not know the jurisdiction of the "international court" you mentioned below. Nor do I know if it has any standing in international maritime law.
Based on what is happening in Israel and other countries, it looks to me like the ruling you discussed below, has unfortunately, had no impact on international maritime practice.
Much of maritime law is based on the common or greatest good of all shippers on the vessel. Therefore, if a ship is in danger due to
overloading and throwing goods overboard is the solution, this is allowed so as not to endanger the remaining goods. In our case of the
current strike - in order to maintain shipping schedules "for the good" of the other containers on the vessel, many vessels are skipping Israeli
ports.
This is a lousy situation and I would be delighted if the shipping lines did not charge for the extra voyage. Unfortunately, they are charging and we have to pass these charges along to the customer.
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Vol XXXVQ: Hi, I made aliya - the mover underestimated my lift by the equivalent
of another 25 lifts. Now my stuff has been in storage for over a year and I have no funds to get it. Although there is a disclaimer in the contract about estimates, this was grossly deceptive. Any suggestions?
A: This is a lousy situation and unfortunately getting worse as your storage charges are mounting making it more difficult to pay for and receive your shipment.
But let me first address how to avoid this situation - to help other people prior to their shipping goods.
First, work with a reputable and reliable company - in theory, the estimator with this type of company will do a better job of estimating. A reputable company will never underestimate volume just to get the job.
Second, know the maximum volume of the container you have booked. A 20 foot container will hold about 1050 - 1100 cubic feet. A 40 foot
container will hold about 2100 to 2200 cubic feet and a 40 foot high cube will hold about 2450 - 2500 cubic feet.
Third, keep in mind that a volume estimate is indeed that - an estimate. 10% variance from the estimate is still well within the range of
"reasonable."
Fourth, if you are near the container's maximum capacity, you should already "mark" some items as second priority to be loaded only if space
is available. This way, you will not run into an overflow situation.
Now, back to your situation...I cannot say if this was "grossly deceptive" or not without seeing your pre-move (visual) survey sheet
and comparing it with your actual volume and your packing list. It might be you added some items after the survey or you might have been
right on the edge with the maximum amount that would fit in a container.
However, it might also be you were deceived with a price that was too low and an illegitimate shipping company knows they can make up the
profit on the overflow. I certainly do not know if this is the case with your shipment or not.
Bottom line though, your storage charges are continuing to grow and you should make every effort to work out a deal with the shipping company to get your goods out of storage by paying what they are charging. If it was not fair, then small claims court is the way to go to get your overpayment back.
I will be happy off line to discuss this with you and review your documents to see if I can help.
Q: I'm interested in working in the logistics industry; can you advise me? I'm currently employed as MarComs manager for a Tel
Aviv-based high-tech company.
A: The logistics business is indeed a fascinating one. You can specialize in any number of areas such as commercial, food and beverage, raw materials, refrigerated containers, dangerous goods, custom built
crating, cultural events or household goods among others.
You can get involved as a shipping agent and forwarder as we are at Sonigo although we also pack and crate or you can work for a large
company that has enough shipments to justify their own shipping department.
As an extreme example, Walmart does enough shipping that they have their own port in the US. They load containers in China for direct shipping to and unloading at a particular store avoiding any transshipping or reloading onto another truck. Other companies will have suppliers ship containers to a distribution center where trucks will consolidate goods
for delivery to stores in a particular area.
Degrees in logistics management are taught at many universities today.
I hope this is helpful for you. Please contact me off line if you would like any additional information.
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