What does this ocean freight quote cost all in, and who pays it?

Formula, assumptions, and limits

An all-in ocean freight figure is the sum of every line on the quote, each multiplied by its own basis, with the three layers of the quote converted to one currency before they are added.

Formula

• $C$: the all-in cost, in the report currency.
• $L$: the layer, $o$ origin charges, $f$ ocean freight, $d$ destination charges, each billed in its own currency.
• $x_L$: units of the report currency per unit of the layer’s currency.
• $S_L$: the layer’s subtotal in its own currency; the ocean freight subtotal $S_f$ also carries the CAF.
• $a_i$: the rate on line $i$ of the quote.
• $q_i$: the quantity that line is charged on: per box, per B/L or per revenue ton (RT).
• $N$: containers; $B$: bills of lading.
• $W$: gross weight in metric tons; $V$: volume in cubic meters; $M$: the tariff’s minimum charge in revenue tons.
• $c$: the currency adjustment factor as a fraction; $F_{\text{CAF}}$ the freight it applies to, the basic ocean freight alone or the base and the ocean surcharges together, as the quote states.

The cost per container is $C / N$, or $C / \max(W, V, M)$ per revenue ton for LCL.

Derivation

The structure is the one 46 CFR 520 requires of a US carrier’s tariff. Section 520.2 defines an assessorial charge as “the amount that is added to the basic ocean freight rate”, 520.6(e) makes the minimum rate display “the basic ocean freight rate and a list of all assessorial charges and surcharges”, and 520.4(f)(6) requires each rate item to carry its “Rate and rate basis”. The rate-basis codes in Appendix A to Part 520 include Per Container (PC) and Weight/Measure (WM), and a per-B/L fee is a Lump Sum (LS) for each shipment. A shipment is “all of the cargo carried under the terms of a single bill of lading” (520.2), so a fee charged per shipment is charged once per B/L, however many boxes travel on it.

Assumptions

• Every per-container line applies to every container in the count, and all containers are the same size and type.
• In LCL, every line except documentation is charged per revenue ton, and documentation once per B/L.
• CAF is a percentage of the freight the reader chooses: the base alone, or the base plus the ocean surcharges. This is the calculator’s assumption; the quote states which the carrier uses.
• Exchange rates are the ECB euro reference rates of 28 October 2026 unless the reader types the rate on the invoice. A carrier bills at its own rate of exchange: Maersk’s Q4 2026 emissions notice prints “1 EUR = 1.1502 USD”, where the ECB rate on 28 October 2026 was 1.1133.

Worked example

Maersk’s notice of 14 January 2026 publishes a sample corridor from Shanghai to Los Angeles, valid from 15 January 2026, for one 40 ft dry container (one FEU): terminal handling at origin (OHC) CNY 856, export service CNY 316, origin documentation CNY 450, and basic ocean freight USD 2,300. Maersk’s Q1 2026 notices set the bunker adjustment factor for Far East Asia to the North American West Coast at USD 450 and the low-sulfur surcharge at USD 19 from 1 January 2026, and its destination terminal handling into the United States is USD 855 for a 40 ft dry box from 15 October 2025.

• Origin: 856 + 316 + 450 = CNY 1,622. At the ECB rates of 28 October 2026 (USD 1.1133 and CNY 7.4217 to the euro), 1 CNY = USD 0.1500, so CNY 1,622 = USD 243.
• Ocean freight: 2,300 + 450 + 19 = USD 2,769.
• Destination: USD 855.
• All in: 243 + 2,769 + 855 = USD 3,867 for the container.

The basic ocean freight is 59% of the bill. Sold FOB Shanghai, the seller pays the USD 243 of origin charges and the buyer the USD 3,624 of freight and destination handling. The sample corridor table lists no BAF or LSS and says its rates “are also subject to other applicable surcharges, including local charges and contingency charges”; the example adds them as separate lines, and a reader whose quote is all-in sets them to 0.

Edge cases and limits

• No base entered. The total is the surcharges and local charges only. This is the case when Maersk’s published surcharges are added to a base still under negotiation.
• Emissions line on a non-EU lane. Maersk applies its emissions surcharge only where the load or discharge port country is in the EU or EEA; the calculator flags a figure entered on a lane with neither.
• China origin. Maersk adds the emissions surcharge to the base freight on bookings from mainland China “for regulatory reasons”, so a separate EMS line on such a quote counts it twice.
• Contingent charges. Demurrage, detention, storage and inland haulage are outside the quote total; 46 CFR 541.3 defines demurrage and detention as “not including freight charges”. The container detention calculator prices them from the dates.
• Duties and insurance belong to the landed cost, not the freight.

Regulatory basis

In the United States, 46 CFR 520 governs how a carrier publishes the rates and surcharges on a quote, 520.8 when a change may take effect and 520.7(c) which date’s rates apply; 46 CFR 530 governs service contracts. In the EU, Directive 2003/87/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2023/959 brings shipping into the EU ETS, and Regulation (EU) 2023/1805, FuelEU Maritime, applies from 1 January 2025; both are the cost behind the emissions line. Incoterms 2020, ICC publication 723E, allocates the costs between seller and buyer.

Common errors

1. Surcharges added to an index or all-in rate. Drewry’s World Container Index is “total ocean freight including bunker adjustment factor and all other applicable surcharges”; adding BAF or an emissions line to it counts them twice.
2. A per-B/L fee multiplied by the containers. Documentation is charged per shipment, and a shipment is one bill of lading under 46 CFR 520.2.
3. The smaller of weight and volume for LCL. The revenue ton is whichever gives the higher charge, the Port of Los Angeles definition.
4. Rates read on the quote date. For a US shipment the rates “in effect on the date the cargo is received by the common carrier” apply, 46 CFR 520.7(c); Maersk sets its price calculation date for FMC trades at the last container gate-in.
5. Markup on pass-through charges. An NVOCC passing on a carrier’s surcharges or terminal charges “must not mark them up above cost”, 46 CFR 520.7(a)(3)(iv) and (h).

Surcharge codes on a liner quote

A liner quote lists each charge under a short code. The table gives the codes this calculator takes, the basis each is charged on, and what set Maersk’s 2026 figures.

Maersk charges ESS on spot bookings and contracts of up to 31 days and EMS on longer ones, and does not pass on UK ETS costs, which it assessed as minimal. On LCL it charges the emissions surcharge per W/M, USD 4 from the Far East to North Europe from 1 October 2026, “payable by the payer of Ocean Freight”.

US tariff rules for surcharges

A US carrier must “State separately each terminal or other charge” in its tariff (46 CFR 520.4(a)(4)), and the tariff must be open to “any person without time, quantity, or other limitations” (520.9(c)). An increase in any rate or charge “may become effective” no earlier than 30 calendar days after publication, while a decrease takes effect on publication (520.8(a)). Charges the carrier only collects for someone else, such as some terminal services and canal tolls, take effect on publication but may not be marked up (520.8(b)(4)). The Federal Maritime Commission restated the 30-day rule for the Red Sea surcharges of January 2024, pointing carriers that need a shorter period to Special Permission under 520.14(c). A service contract is different: it takes effect on its stated date once all parties have signed it (46 CFR 530.3(i)) and is filed within 30 days after that date (530.8(a)(1)).

EU ETS and FuelEU surcharges

An emissions surcharge (Maersk’s EMS or ESS) passes on to the shipper the cost of the EU allowances a carrier surrenders under the EU ETS and of FuelEU Maritime compliance, on voyages to, from or within the EU and EEA. For emissions from 2024, a shipping company must surrender EU allowances for its ships' emissions: 50% of emissions on a voyage between an EU port and a port outside the EU, and 100% within the EU and at berth (Article 3ga of Directive 2003/87/EC). The share phases in: 40% of verified 2024 emissions, 70% of 2025 and 100% from 2026 (Article 3gb), surrendered by 30 September of the following year. Article 3gc entitles the shipping company to reimbursement where another entity has contractually taken on the purchase of the fuel or the operation of the ship. FuelEU Maritime adds a limit on the greenhouse gas intensity of the energy used on board, 2% below 91.16 gCO2e/MJ from 2025 and 6% below from 2030, with a penalty of EUR 2,400 per metric ton of VLSFO-equivalent energy in deficit. Maersk explained the rise in its Q1 2026 emissions surcharge by the move from 70% to 100% coverage.

Who pays each layer under Incoterms 2020

The ICC’s introduction to Incoterms 2020 states the principle “in broad terms”: A9 “allocates costs before the point of delivery to the seller and costs after that point to the buyer”. The table applies it to the three layers of a quote.

Under the C-rules the seller contracts the carriage, so whether the destination terminal handling is the seller’s depends on what that contract covers. Under DAP the seller does not unload and under DPU it does, the distinction the ICC draws between the two rules.

Where to find each input

• Base rate and surcharges: the quote’s freight section, or the carrier’s published tariff; in the US every surcharge is in the tariff under 46 CFR 520.4.
• Origin and destination charges: the local charges section of the quote, or the carrier’s terminal handling notice for the port, such as Maersk’s for Korea (KRW 220,000 for a 40 ft dry box from 1 October 2026) or the Netherlands (EUR 285 for all dry containers from the same date).
• Containers and bills of lading: the booking. For LCL, the gross weight and the volume in cubic meters (CBM) from the packing list; the FCL vs LCL calculator shows the volume at which a full box costs less, and the pallets per container calculator settles how many boxes a palletized load takes.
• Exchange rate: the rate printed on the carrier’s invoice; the ECB reference rate is a check, not the billed figure.
• Incoterms rule: the sales contract or the commercial invoice.