Maersk Line Announces New BAF Rollout and Formula

We talked earlier about the upcoming changes to the calculation of BAF surcharges for 2008 and Maersk has just announced their plans on how they will calculate the new floating BAF surcharges. According to a Maerskline press release, the new BAF surcharges will fluctuate with the price of fuel similar to other transportation industries like the airlines and parcel companies.

The formula builds on elements such as fuel consumption, transit time, and imbalances of container flows. However, only changes in the oil price will entail changes in the BAF level. Our customers will therefore only pay the variation in cost, and although the BAF rises when fuel prices climb, they will also benefit from downward trends as the bunker price fluctuates.

Our various trades will implement the new Maersk Line BAF formula separately, beginning the first quarter of 2008. All trades will make announcements on maerskline.com/baf when they transition to the new BAF formula. We expect to complete the rollout by 1 January 2009.

Maerskline has also introduced a new tool for calculating fuel surcharges by trade lane as well as rollout plans for when the new calculations will go into effect.