CMA CGM and MSC Introduce Emergency Fuel Surcharges as Bunker Prices Surge

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday March 9, 2026

Container shipping firms CMA CGM and MSC are moving to pass on higher bunker fuel costs to customers after a surge in bunker prices amid the Middle East crisis.

CMA CGM will implement an emergency fuel surcharge across its services from March 23 (loading date), it said in an advisory to customers on its website on Saturday.

The surcharge will be set at $150 per TEU for dry containers and $180 per TEU for reefers on long-haul trades, while backhaul and intra-regional trades will face $75 per TEU for dry containers and $90 per TEU for reefers.

Separately, MSC said on Saturday it will introduce an emergency fuel surcharge on cargo moving from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to the Red Sea, East Africa and the Indian Sub-Continent.

From March 16 (BL date), MSC will charge $30 per TEU for dry containers and $50 per TEU for reefers to the Red Sea, $60 and $90 per TEU respectively to East Africa, and $40 and $60 per TEU to the Indian Sub-Continent.

Ship & Bunker’s G20-VLSFO Index, which tracks VLSFO prices across 20 major bunkering ports, has risen by more than 35% since the US and Israel carried out the first attacks on Iran to $735/mt as of Friday.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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