Maersk has claimed its new Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) surcharge will enable customers to plan for changes in fuel prices.
The world’s biggest container shipping line will adjust its surcharge rate ahead of the IMO’s 2020 regulations on sulphur emissions.
The BAF replaces Maersk’s current Standard Bunker Adjustment Factor (SBF) surcharge and is calculated using two factors.
These are the fuel price in key bunkering ports around the world, and the rate of average fuel consumption on a given trade lane, which is calculated using transit time, fuel efficiency and trade imbalances between head haul and backhaul legs.
Learn more about Maersk's plans for the future by reading a Port Technology technical paper
In its statement, Maersk said that using this formula gives its customers “full predictability of their costs at any given fuel price before and after 2020”.
It also said the BAF will be introduced on January 1 2019, in order to give its customers time to adjust.
Vincent Clark, Chief Commercial Officer (COO), Maersk Lines, commented: “The 2020 sulphur cap is a game changer for the shipping industry.
“Maersk preparations to comply are well underway and so are our customers' efforts to plan ahead.
“The new BAF is a simple, fair and predictable mechanism that ensures clarity for our customers in planning their supply chains for this significant shift.”