What is Demurrage..??
In General,
Demurrage, is a charge levied by the port authority to the importer in cases where they have not taken delivery of the full container and move it out of the port/terminal area for unpacking within the allowed free days..
So what is Detention then..!!
Detention is a charge levied by the shipping line to the importer in cases where they have taken the full container for unpacking (let’s say within the free days) but have not returned the empty container to the nominated empty depot before the expiry of the free days allowed.
However, it's not mandatory that its always importer who needs to pay demurrage , if importer fails to clear the cargo and if the exporter has to take it back then exporter has to pay demurrage to bring it back or if exporter has booked the container for exporting and did not provided that to shipping line on time then they can also occur detention charges.
Q. What are generally free days allowed at port to clear the goods ?
Ans : It depends on the port but it's approx 2 to 5 days at max.
Q. What is generally free days allowed at by shipping line to provide his container back?
Ans : Shipping line generally provide 15 days free time to the exporter to make its goods container available in port & 15 days to an importer to unload in his factory and provide back container to shipping line at said place.