Demurrage is the daily charge a shipping line bills when your full container stays at the terminal beyond the free time. Detention applies when you keep the container outside the terminal too long. In Antwerp, an import dry container usually gets 4 to 7 free calendar days, a reefer fewer.
Below you will find how the clock works and what five major carriers charge at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges: Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and ONE. All figures come from their own tariffs, as of 31 October 2026.
Download the overview of free time and daily rates per carrier (PDF)
What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
Demurrage covers the container while it sits at the terminal. On import, it runs from discharge until the full container leaves the terminal. On export, it runs from gate-in of the full container until it is loaded on board.
Detention covers the use of the container outside the terminal. On import, it runs from gate-out until the empty container is back at the designated depot. On export, it runs from empty pickup until the full container is back at the terminal.
Some carriers combine both into one period, known as combined or merged free time. MSC works this way in Antwerp: free time runs from discharge until the empty container is returned. Seven combined days is less than five days of demurrage plus five days of detention.
When does the clock start?
Most carriers count the day of discharge as day one. Maersk starts demurrage on the day of discharge and detention on the day the full container leaves the terminal. Hapag-Lloyd starts detention at 00:01 on the calendar day after pickup.
All five carriers use calendar days. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays count. If a container is discharged on a Friday and that day counts, Monday is already free day four. The only exception in this overview: MSC gives reefers 3 working days.
How the container leaves the port matters too. Maersk gives 4 free days of import detention when the container leaves by truck, and 10 when it goes by barge or rail.
How much free time do carriers give in Antwerp?
Free time for a standard dry container on import (as of 31 October 2026):
- Maersk: 5 days demurrage, 4 days detention by truck. Tariff in force since 1 August 2026.
- MSC: 7 days combined, from discharge until the empty container is returned. Terminal storage has its own free days.
- CMA CGM: 5 days demurrage, 5 days detention. Tariff in force since 1 January 2026.
- Hapag-Lloyd: 4 days demurrage at the sea terminal (7 at an inland terminal), 4 days detention. Tariff in force since 1 January 2026.
- ONE: 5 days demurrage, 5 days detention.
These are standard tariffs. With a service contract, your free time can be different.
What does demurrage cost per day after the free time?
Rates go up in tiers: the longer the container stays, the more each extra day costs. For a 40' dry container on import:
- Maersk: EUR 105 per day from day 6 to 8, EUR 150 from day 9 to 13 and EUR 200 from day 14.
- Hapag-Lloyd: EUR 65, 110 and 130 in the first three tiers, then EUR 185 per day.
- ONE: EUR 95, 130 and then 165 per day.
- MSC: EUR 95 per day for the first days after free time, then EUR 140. This rate covers demurrage and detention together.
- CMA CGM: EUR 40, 60 and 100 demurrage. In Belgian ports, a separate storage tariff applies on top: EUR 65, 130 and 200 per day after 5 free days.
A Maersk example: a 40' dry container leaves the terminal on day 12, counting the day of discharge. Days 6 to 8 cost 3 x EUR 105, days 9 to 12 cost 4 x EUR 150. That is EUR 915 in demurrage before a single day of detention.
Why do reefers and special equipment get less free time?
Reefers, open tops and flat racks are scarcer than dry containers, so carriers want them back fast. For reefers, power and monitoring are often included in the daily rate. The result is fewer free days and higher charges.
- ONE: a temperature-controlled reefer gets 3 free days of demurrage. After that, a 40' costs EUR 180, 250 and 385 per day.
- Maersk: reefers, flat racks and open tops get 4 free days of demurrage. A reefer then costs EUR 200, 220 and 300 per day.
- CMA CGM: a reefer gets only 2 free days of detention. A 40' reefer then costs EUR 145, 265 and eventually 525 per day.
- MSC: reefers get 3 working days, flat racks and open tops 6 calendar days.
A reefer used without power as a regular container (a non-operating reefer) follows the dry container tariff at Maersk and CMA CGM.
Is demurrage the same as terminal storage?
Not always. At Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, terminal storage is included in demurrage. CMA CGM publishes a separate storage tariff for Belgian ports.
MSC charges storage separately, with its own free days: 5 calendar days under merchant haulage, 7 under carrier haulage. If the container stays on the quay for more than 7 days, discharge day included, MSC also charges an overdue stack surcharge of EUR 150 per container. Always check both lines on the invoice.
What does not stop the clock?
The clock keeps running as long as the delay is on the receiver's side. The usual cases:
- Customs inspection or scan. For the carrier, customs clearance is the receiver's responsibility.
- Unpaid invoices or a missing original B/L. Without payment or documents, the carrier does not release the container.
- No access to Certified Pick-up. Since 15 January 2024, container release in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges must go through this platform. Evergreen states in its release notice that charges keep running if the receiver has not registered in time. The same applies if the procedure for a red customs light is not followed in time.
- Weekends and public holidays. They count as regular calendar days.
If you prepare customs clearance and the release before the vessel arrives, you save free days.
Can you also pay demurrage on export?
Yes. On export, demurrage runs from the day the full container enters the terminal until it is loaded on board. Deliver too early and you use free days before the vessel is even there. Maersk gives 7 free days on export for a dry container and 5 for a reefer. CMA CGM gives 6 free days.
Export detention runs from empty pickup until the full container is back at the terminal. Maersk gives 5 free days for a dry container. Plan pickup and delivery around the vessel's closing, not earlier.
Who pays demurrage and detention?
The carrier invoices the party listed as payer, on import usually the consignee or its forwarder. A Maersk arrival notice even lists a separate payer for demurrage and for detention per container.
Who bears the cost in the end depends on the agreement between buyer and seller. The Incoterm defines where responsibility passes. If you buy CIF or CFR Antwerp, you arrange the pickup at the port, so demurrage and detention in Antwerp usually fall to you.
Tariffs as of 31 October 2026
This article was written on 31 October 2026. Carriers update their tariffs regularly: Maersk did so on 1 August 2026. At Maersk, the tariff that applies is the one in force on the price calculation date in the country of origin, not on the day of arrival in Antwerp. Always check the tariff that applies to your shipment.
Arrange extra free time before the container departs. Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM each offer a way to extend free time at destination. For sea freight via Antwerp and container transport from the port, PLS handles customs and the Certified Pick-up release in the same file as the pickup.
Not sure how many free days your container has in Antwerp? Get in touch and we will check it for you.
Sources: Belgian tariffs of Maersk (import since 1 August 2026, export since 1 September 2025), CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd (since 1 January 2026), ONE basic tariff (retrieved 31 October 2026) and the import conditions on an MSC arrival notice (2026).