MSC demurrage & detention tariff
Reference reviewed August 2026 · Free time, day counting and dispute grounds
Short answer
MSC demurrage is charged per container per day once the free time at the port of discharge runs out; detention is charged separately once the equipment leaves the terminal. Commonly 3–7 calendar days; several European filings run to 5–7, US filings shorter. MSC files its tariff locally, so the governing free time is the one filed for your port of discharge or written into your service contract.
MSC operates the world’s largest container fleet and files demurrage and detention through its local agencies, so the tariff that governs your invoice is the one filed in the country of discharge — not a global schedule. Most recoverable value on MSC invoices sits in the detention clock: when it stopped, and where the empty was accepted.
Also searched as: Mediterranean Shipping Company, MSCU.
Where the tariff is published
MSC publishes D&D through its local agency pages, one filing per country, with separate import and export schedules. The applicable tariff is the local one in force at the port concerned.
MSC local demurrage & detention tariffs →How the tariff is structured
| Charge names used on the invoice | Demurrage and Detention are normally billed as separate lines; some agencies also raise a separate "storage" line passed through from the terminal. |
| Tariff basis | Per-country filings in escalating day bands, split by equipment type and by import versus export. |
| Where the clock starts | Import demurrage from vessel discharge; detention from gate-out until the empty is returned to a nominated depot. |
| Empty return | Detention stops on return to a *nominated* depot only. Returns to a full or closed depot are the single most common cause of disputed detention days on MSC bookings. |
Typical free time
| Import demurrage free time | Commonly 3–7 calendar days; several European filings run to 5–7, US filings shorter. |
| Detention free time | Commonly 3–5 days on dry, materially shorter on reefer and special equipment. |
| How days count | Calendar days including weekends in most filings; a minority of local filings exclude public holidays. |
| Combined free time | On merchant-haulage moves some filings grant a single combined free period rather than two — check which applies before counting. |
Indicative ranges drawn from published local filings and the contracts we see in audit work. They are not a quote: your service contract and the filing at the port of discharge govern. How the two charges are calculated · Demurrage guide, calculator & free time by port.
MSC free time by port
Free time, day counting and the local watch-outs for the ports where we see the most MSC demurrage disputes.
What makes MSC charges disputable
- Detention accruing after the empty was tendered to a depot that refused it. A depot rejection note or gate refusal timestamp usually stops the clock at the tender date.
- Terminal storage passed through as carrier demurrage for the same days — two invoices, one delay.
- Free time counted from vessel arrival rather than from discharge, which can add one to three chargeable days per box.
- Wrong equipment class applied (reefer band charged on a dry box carried as non-operating reefer).
- Charges continuing through a customs or phytosanitary hold the merchant did not cause, where the local filing suspends the clock.
Holding a MSC D&D invoice?
Send it over. We check every line against your contract, the local filing and our own dwell record for that voyage, then file the claim on your behalf. The audit is free and our fee is 20% of what we actually recover — nothing if we recover nothing.