Key takeaways
- MSC will add $91 per TEU in piracy and Suez Canal surcharges on selected Asia–East Mediterranean and Black Sea shipments from 15 September.
- That means an additional $182 for a standard 40-foot container, before other applicable freight charges and surcharges.
- From 1 October, MSC will also charge $100 per TEU on selected Europe–North America shipments routed through the Panama Canal.
From 15 September, MSC will levy a Piracy Risk Surcharge of $55 per TEU and a Suez Canal Surcharge of $36 per TEU on cargo shipped from Asia to a range of ports in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Together, the charges add $91 per TEU, or $182 for a standard 40-foot container, before other applicable freight charges and surcharges are taken into account.
MSC said the measure was prompted by the security situation and piracy risk around the Arabian Peninsula, which continues to affect vessel operations and transit routes. The charges will remain in place until further notice.
The affected destinations include Alexandria, Aliaga, Antalya, Batumi, Burgas, Constanța, Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin, Odesa, Poti and Varna, among others.
Surcharge comes as MSC cautiously returns to Suez
The timing is notable because MSC has only recently begun partially restoring Suez Canal transits after prolonged disruption to Red Sea shipping.
On 24 August, the carrier said that, following a review of security and operational conditions, it would return a limited number of East-West services to the Suez route. These include selected Asia–Mediterranean, Asia–Northern Europe and India–Mediterranean sailings.
MSC stressed that the return would take place service by service and that contingency arrangements would remain available if security conditions deteriorated again.
The new surcharge therefore shows that a return to shorter Suez routings does not mean that the additional costs associated with the region have disappeared. Instead, at least some of the security and transit risks are now being reflected directly in the price paid by cargo owners.
The use of a specific “piracy risk” surcharge also comes against the backdrop of a genuine revival in pirate activity around Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.
In July, the International Maritime Organization said it had recorded 24 attempted or actual incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the previous three months. At the time, 44 seafarers were being held on three vessels hijacked between April and May off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
Figures from the International Maritime Bureau paint a more nuanced global picture. Worldwide piracy and armed robbery fell sharply in the first half of 2026, but Somali pirates accounted for 94% of all crew members taken hostage during the period, with the organisation warning that activity off Somalia had begun to rise again.
This means the term “piracy surcharge” is not simply another label for the security risks associated with Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Shipping companies operating in the wider region are dealing with overlapping threats ranging from piracy off Somalia to broader security risks around Yemen and the Red Sea.
Another $100 per TEU for Panama routings
At the same time, MSC is revising its Emergency Panama Canal Surcharge for cargo travelling via Panama from the West Mediterranean, Adriatic, Israel, North-West Europe and Scandinavia/Baltic regions to the United States, Canada and Mexico.
From 1 October, the charge will be $100 per TEU for all cargo types, equivalent to $200 for a 40-foot container.
The latest announcement from the Panama Canal Authority, however, points to a modest improvement in the immediate operational outlook.
On 4 September, the authority said it would postpone a planned reduction in the maximum authorised draft for vessels using the Neopanamax locks. The limit had been due to fall from 14.63 metres to 14.48 metres on 1 October, but will instead remain at the current 14.63 metres after the canal reviewed Gatun Lake levels and updated weather projections.
According to the authority, keeping the current draft in place gives customers greater continuity for voyage planning and vessel deployment. It will nevertheless continue monitoring water conditions and provide advance notice of any future changes affecting vessel draft requirements.
For shippers, this creates an interesting timing mismatch: MSC’s new $100-per-TEU Panama surcharge is still scheduled to begin on 1 October, even though the canal restriction originally due to take effect on the same day has now been postponed.
MSC has also separately revised its Panama Canal surcharge for shipments from Southeast Asia, China, Korea and Japan to the US East and Gulf coasts. From 12 September, this amounts to $149 for a 20-foot container, $297 for a 40-footer and $376 for a 45-foot container.
