Shippers are already paying a variety of surcharges for maritime transportation, and now they can expect to pay one more.

A number of ocean carriers have filed notice with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) that they intend to assess a surcharge for filing bills of lading with U.S. Customs as mandated by the new 24-hour advance manifest rule. The charge will vary depending on the carrier and the trade lane, but most are expected to be in the range of $25 per bill of lading.

The method of billing will vary as well. Maersk Sealand will charge its customers $25 for each document it receives in paper form due to the time and labor it takes to key in the information, but will exempt from the charge any shipper that sends a bill of lading in electronic form. Other carriers, such as MOL, will assess the charge regardless of format, considering it the price of transmission of the data.

In addition, some carriers have said that they would level additional charges for every correction they have to make to a bill of lading in order to bring it into compliance with customs requirements. That charge appears to be settling in at $40 per correction.

Some ocean carriers have yet to file their surcharges with the FMC, but it seems likely that most will do so sooner rather than later.