Importer Says It Was Unfairly Charged Detention for Government’s Hold on Containers

Ocean carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Service Ltd. and logistics firm CEVA Freight violated the Shipping Act by charging the “unreasonable” sum of $180,860 for the detention of three containers that the U.S. government temporarily seized at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina, International Lumber Imports (ILI) said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission last week.

The containers, which carried tropical hardwood products from Brazil, arrived at the port in October 2021. Less than a week later and without explanation, CBP placed a customs hold on the containers at the request of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ILI said. Although ILI later learned that the FWS had been concerned about a possible violation of the conservation-focused Lacey Act, the containers were released in April 2022 with no violations found.

ILI said it unexpectedly received an invoice in September 2022 for "alleged detention charges," even though “the hold of the containers was completely out of the control” of the company. The charges inexplicably covered a period that extended 98 days beyond the date on which the containers were released, the complaint said.

The charges also totaled more than three times the cost of new containers, and were imposed at a time when ZIM had access to plenty of empty containers, ILI said. “In reality, ZIM suffered minimal, if any, actual damage as a result of the extended detention,” the complaint said.

ILI said it hasn't paid the detention charges and has tried to resolve the matter informally. It asked the FMC to declare the charges unlawful and order CEVA to stop trying to collect them. It also seeks “reparations for injuries caused to it by respondents due to the violations of the Shipping Act.”

ZIM and CEVA didn't respond to requests for comment.