Container charges explained
Demurrage charges in Australia
Two clocks start the day your container comes off the ship. Most importers watch the shipping line's one. It is the other one that gets expensive first.
Demurrage is what a shipping line charges you for holding on to its container past the free time it gave you. This is what that costs here, using the rates DP World, Patrick, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd publish themselves. It is also how we keep our own customers out of it, by lodging the clearance about three days before the vessel arrives on every import we handle.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm Perth time
- The terminal gives you 3 days Free storage at DP World Fremantle, and every day of the week counts
- Then charges up to $1,200 Per 40ft per day, before goods and services tax (GST), once it reaches the higher rate
- The shipping line gives you 8 days Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd both publish eight calendar days on an Australian import
- Then charges $200 Per 40ft per day on the Maersk import tariff, six times less than the terminal
Three words that get mixed up
People use demurrage to mean any charge for a container running late. There are really three, they come from two different companies, and they run on separate clocks.
The shipping line charges
Demurrage
Their container is still inside the port, terminal or depot after the free time has run out. You have not collected it yet.
The shipping line charges
Detention
Their container is out of the terminal and sitting at your place after the free time has run out. You have collected it but not given it back.
The terminal charges
Storage
Rent on the ground the box is standing on. Nothing to do with the shipping line, a separate invoice, and usually the one that starts first.
In Australia demurrage and detention are usually one charge
Overseas they are often two separate allowances. Here the carriers merge them. Hapag-Lloyd calls its Australian import tariff "Import Demurrage combined with Detention".
Maersk defines the charge on its Australian import page as payable when you hold the container beyond the free time "for the combined period inside and outside the terminal, port, or depot".
So you do not get eight days at the wharf and then a fresh set of days at your yard. It is one run of eight, and Hapag-Lloyd spells out where it starts and stops. The clock "commences calculation on the day unit has been discharged from vessel and ends after return of empty unit at the designated place of interchange".
Both lines publish eight calendar days on a standard dry container coming into Australia. Hapag-Lloyd drops that to five on a temperature controlled box, which catches people importing food and pharmaceuticals.
Free time is per shipping line, not per port.
Eight days is what Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd publish as standard. Your own booking may have more or less, and spot rates often come with less. It is worth knowing which you have before the ship arrives rather than after.
At Fremantle the terminal clock runs out first
Both carriers say the same thing about storage: it is not part of their tariff. Maersk puts it plainly.
"Port storage is not included into combined demurrage and detention tariff but port operator charges storage directly from customers." Hapag-Lloyd's Australian tariff simply says storage is "charged by terminal operator directly".
At DP World Fremantle you get three working days free, and the terminal runs Monday to Sunday, so every day of the week counts. The first free day starts when the container is made available in 1-Stop, not when the vessel berths and not when you get the arrival notice.
Terminal storage, DP World Fremantle
Combined demurrage and detention, shipping line
A 20ft is roughly half of that, $296.77 a day and then $600.33. Reefers, hazardous cargo and out of gauge all carry more on top, and there is a one off yard handling fee of $434.46 on any 40ft that goes past the free period, charged once rather than daily.
That document is a notice of intention rather than the final tariff, and DP World publishes the final one on its customer portal, which is not public. The notified numbers are what we have used here.
Patrick, the other container terminal at Fremantle, charges $255.60 per twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) per day, so $511.20 a day on a 40ft, also before GST and also from 1 January 2026.
Their notice says the fee runs from day one and does not publish a free storage period, so do not assume a Patrick box gets the same three days.
What a week actually costs
A 40ft container at DP World Fremantle, available on a Monday and collected on the Sunday. Seven days, which does not sound like a disaster.
Import storage on one 40ft container, DP World Fremantle notified rates for 1 January 2026, before GST. The shipping line column is what Maersk would charge over the same week.
| Day | What is happening | Terminal | Shipping line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1 to 3 | Free storage period | Nil | Nil |
| Day 4 | First chargeable day | $593.55 | Nil |
| Day 5 | Second chargeable day | $593.55 | Nil |
| Day 6 | Rate steps up | $1,200.65 | Nil |
| Day 7 | Collected | $1,200.65 | Nil |
| Once | Yard handling fee, charged on any container that passes the free period | $434.46 | Nil |
| Seven days, before GST | $4,022.86 | Nil | |
The shipping line has charged nothing at all. You are still inside its eight days. That is $4,425 with the GST on it, and the only invoice is from the terminal.
Leave it another week and the second clock starts as well, and the two run together.
Already sitting? Ring with the container number and the vessel and we will tell you where it is, what has stopped it, and what tomorrow costs.
Call 08 9303 2110Why containers sit
Almost none of it is the importer being slow. In our experience it is nearly always one of these.
- Quarantine. The Department of Agriculture holds the container for inspection or treatment. From September to April the brown marmorated stink bug measures catch a long list of countries and goods, and the delay can run well past the free time. What stink bug season means for your shipment.
- A customs hold, or paperwork that is not right. A missing packing declaration or a description that does not match the invoice is enough. Clearance cannot be lodged until it is fixed, and storage does not pause while you fix it.
- No truck slot. The terminals run a booking system. When the yard is busy the slots go, and a container with nowhere to go on the truck stays where it is.
- Nowhere to put it. Your yard is full, the forklift is down, or the person who signs for it is away.
- An unpaid invoice. The line will not release the container until its own bill is settled, and the storage keeps counting while that is sorted out.
How we stop the clock before it starts
Every import we handle is lodged for clearance about three days before the vessel arrives. Not on request, not for a fee. It is how we run the job.
The terminal clock starts when your container is released in 1-Stop, and the shipping line's clock starts when it comes off the vessel.
If the entry is already lodged and correct at that point, the box can be collected inside the free days and you never reach the expensive ones. If it is not, you are doing paperwork while both clocks run.
Suzette van der Heijden, who runs Red Nav: "Many people don't do it. They wait for the vessel to arrive, and then they start with the customs."
It is the same on air, for the opposite reason. Sea gives you around sixty days on the water for the documents to catch up. Air gives you three to five, so we ask for the supplier invoice and packing list up front rather than chasing them while the aircraft is in the air.
What that looks like in practice on a normal import:
- Documents checked when they are issued, not when the ship is off Rottnest. A description that does not match the invoice, or a missing packing declaration, is the sort of thing that holds a container after arrival.
- The entry lodged ahead of arrival through our licensed customs broker, so a hold shows up while there is still time to fix it.
- Quarantine dealt with in the same pass, because that is the other thing that holds a box, and from September to April the seasonal stink bug measures apply to a long list of countries and goods.
- Transport booked against the available date, not the arrival date, so the truck turns up in the free window.
There is no separate charge for any of it. It is part of arranging the shipment, and it is the single biggest reason our customers do not see demurrage invoices.
Want this on your next container? Tell us what is coming and from where. The free time and the clearance timing are both things we will have sorted before it sails.
Get a freight quoteWhat actually helps
Being honest about this: once the charges are on, they are rarely taken off. Everything useful happens before the ship arrives.
- Get the free time in writing at booking. It is negotiable then. It is almost never negotiable once the box is on the ground.
- Buy extra days up front if you know the goods will sit. Maersk lets you add free days to a booking through its own site, and paying for them beforehand costs a fraction of the daily rate afterwards. Ask your line whether it does the same.
- Work to the available date, not the arrival date. The terminal clock starts when the container is released in 1-Stop, which can be a day or two after the vessel berths.
- Have the clearance ready before arrival. If the documents are lodged and correct, the container can go straight out. How we handle sea freight through Fremantle.
- Book the transport early. Slots are the bottleneck more often than the paperwork.
- Say something the moment it looks like slipping. An extension can sometimes be agreed before the free time expires. After it, you are asking for a favour.
We do not charge a fee for watching this. It is part of arranging the shipment, and it is most of the reason people use a freight forwarder in Perth rather than booking direct.
Shipment not booked yet? Tell us what is coming and from where, and the free time is one of the things we will have agreed before it sails.
Get a freight quoteQuestions people ask
What does demurrage mean?
It is the shipping line charging you for holding on to its container past the free time it gave you. The word comes from ships, where it meant the charge for keeping a vessel at berth longer than agreed. In container shipping it moved across to the box.
What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
Where the container is. Demurrage is inside the terminal, detention is outside it. In Australia the two are normally merged into a single allowance, so the distinction matters less here than it does in Europe or the United States.
How much is demurrage per day in Australia?
The two lines we checked land in the same place. Maersk charges $100 a day for a 20ft and $200 for a 40ft once the free time has gone, then more again after another twelve days.
Hapag-Lloyd charges $100 and $180 for the first seven days, $140 and $230 for the next five, then $170 and $300. Reefers run closer to double. Every line publishes its own tariff and the rates change, so check the one on your booking.
Who charges demurrage, the terminal or the shipping line?
The shipping line. The terminal charges storage, which is a separate invoice and usually the bigger one in the first week. People get two bills and assume one is a mistake.
When does the clock start?
For the shipping line, the day the container is discharged from the vessel. For terminal storage at DP World Fremantle, the day it is made available in 1-Stop. Those are not the same day.
Can demurrage be waived or disputed?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking, particularly where the delay was caused by the line or the terminal. Do not plan on it. The usual answer is no, and the usual reason it gets refused is that the request came after the event rather than before it.
Does any of this apply to air freight?
The words do not, but the problem does, and it moves faster. Air cargo terminals charge storage on freight left in the shed, and the free period is measured in hours rather than days. Menzies, one of the terminal operators handling international air cargo in Australia, allowed 24 hours on the import schedule it published for 1 September 2023, then charged by the kilogram with a minimum fee per consignment.
That is the most recent schedule of theirs we could open, so treat it as the shape of it rather than today's rate. Air freight is expensive to leave sitting, which is the whole reason it went by air. Air freight in and out of Perth.
Where these numbers came from
Every figure on this page is from the company that charges it, not from a summary of it.
- DP World Australia (PDF), notification to industry dated 31 October 2025, changes to terminal carrier access tariffs at DP World Fremantle from 1 January 2026.
- Patrick Terminals (PDF), final notice to customers dated 2 December 2025, summary of public tariff changes, Fremantle terminal, effective 1 January 2026.
- Maersk, Australia import local information page, free time and combined demurrage and detention tariff.
- Hapag-Lloyd (PDF), Australia import tariff "Import Demurrage combined with Detention", effective 1 October 2025.
- Menzies Aviation (PDF), terminal service fees Australia effective 1 September 2023, import warehouse storage fee, for the air freight comparison only.
Red Nav is a freight forwarder. We are not licensed customs brokers, and classification and clearance are handled by our licensed broker.
Checked September 2026. Tariffs change, usually on 1 January, and free time is set on your booking rather than by the port. Treat this as the shape of the thing, then check your own paperwork.
Worried about a container that is already sitting?
Ring and tell us the container number and the vessel. We can usually see where it is and what has stopped it, and tell you what the next day costs.
Unit 26, 110 Inspiration Drive, Wangara, Perth WA 6065. Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.