Jones Act fuel fees up again

Rajesh Joshi - Tuesday 9 June 2009

THE steady increase in bunker prices has prompted Jones Act liner companies Horizon Lines and Matson Navigation to put up fuel surcharges again, writes Rajesh Joshi .

New York Stock Exchange-listed Horizon Lines has filed with US regulators to raise its Alaska surcharge from 12.5% to 15% as of June 21. On the same day, the Hawaii surcharge goes up from 16.5% to 20%, and the Guam surcharge from 18% to 21.5%.

As from yesterday, Horizon is levying a per teu surcharge of $385-$510 on its Puerto Rico lane, depending on the US port of origin.

“Horizon Lines will continue to closely monitor fuel costs and will adjust the fuel surcharges as trends warrant,” the company said.

Matson, a unit of Alexander and Baldwin, and a market leader in Hawaii, has lifted its Hawaii surcharge from 20% to 28% as of July 8. The surcharge on Matson’s Guam/Northern Mariana Islands and Micronesia service will climb from 21.5% to 29.5%.

The latest increases follow rises that came into force from April as the oil price rebounded. Earlier, a series of cuts in the surcharges had followed a similar trend for rises in the first half of 2008, when the booming oil price led to fuel surcharges exceeding 30% on several trade lanes.