Glossary · Costs & free time
Demurrage and detention on perishable cargo
Also known as Demurrage, Detention, and Port storage.
Two daily charges from the same line, divided by the terminal gate — and why perishables run out of free days faster than dry cargo does.
Published
A reefer of avocados is discharged on the Thursday before a bank holiday. You have three days of free time. By the time anyone is back at a desk the meter has been running for a day, and it will keep running, at a rate that escalates, until someone collects the box.
Whether that charge is called demurrage or detention depends on one thing: which side of the terminal gate the container is on.
The difference is the gate
Demurrage is charged while the container is still inside the port terminal, past your free time. You are paying for yard space.
Detention is charged once it has left the terminal and is with you. You are paying for the line’s equipment — every reefer you hold is one it cannot load onto the next vessel.
One shipment routinely incurs both: demurrage while customs clearance runs, then detention while the box waits to be stripped at your warehouse.
| Demurrage | Detention | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Inside the terminal | Outside, with you |
| Paying for | Yard space | The line’s equipment |
| Starts | Discharge from the vessel | Gate-out |
| Stops | Gate-out | Empty returned to the depot |
That last cell is the one that costs money quietly. Detention runs until the empty goes back, not until you unload — a stripped container in your yard is still on hire.
They are separate clocks with separate allowances, which is why a contract quoting them combined catches people out. Seven combined days sounds generous until clearance eats five and you are on detention from the moment the box leaves the gate.
Both are charged per container per day on a rising scale — roughly €40–75 a day at first, several times that beyond ten days. The escalation means a week’s delay costs far more than twice a three-day delay, and it is per box, so a twenty-container consignment multiplies every number.
Why perishables run out of days first
Free time on a reefer is typically 2–4 days against 5–7 for dry cargo, at a higher daily rate once it runs out. The cargo least able to wait is on the shortest clock — not by accident, but because reefer equipment is scarce and short free time is how a line forces it to turn.
And the invoice is the smallest part of the bill. Three days in a terminal is also three days of shelf life, and shelf life is what you sold. Fruit arriving with a week left instead of ten days goes to a different buyer at a different price, or to a claim. A dry-goods importer facing the same three days pays only the first line of that.
Demurrage and detention: how importers lose money on free time covers where the days actually go and what prevents it.
FAQ
What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
The terminal gate. Demurrage is charged while the container is inside the terminal; detention while it is outside, with you. Both are daily charges from the same line, and one shipment can incur both on the same journey.
When does the clock start?
Demurrage starts at discharge from the vessel — not at the ETA and not at arrival notice. A vessel berthing two days early gives you two fewer days, and nobody sends a correction. Detention starts at gate-out and stops when the empty is returned to the depot.
Can demurrage or detention be waived?
Sometimes, for delays caused by the line itself — a late berth, a mis-stowed container. Almost never for a document that was not ready. Ask while the container is still in the yard; once the invoice has been issued, a waiver is much harder to get.