Shipping to and from Saudi Arabia

For Perishable cargo, such as consumable Goods, pharmaceutical products, Dangerous Goods, and all other products which fall in the category of perishable goods

• Fifteen (15) days from the date the cargo/goods are placed in any port/ customs facilities.

For all other Cargo/Goods

• Thirty (30) days from the date the cargo/goods are placed in any port/customs department facilities.

Beginning from 01/01/1439 (corresponding to 21/09/2017), any cargo/goods that have not been cleared by the above time period will be considered abandoned and will be subject to the procedures set by Saudi Customs with respect to the handling and disposition of abandoned cargo.

Please note that the cargo owner will be fully liable for all costs and expenses for any cargo deemed abandoned. The carrier and/or the shipping agency shall not be responsible for any issues or claims whatsoever relating to any cargo/goods that have not been cleared by the owner within the time period specified above by the Port Authority.

To avoid abandonment of cargo/goods, please ensure that you contact the shipping agency prior to the ships arrival to the port to initiate the process to obtain the Delivery Order and other required documents, and to clear the cargo/goods from the customs areas within the time period specified above.

Port demurrage

A free time of 3 days is allowed to clear out the cargo by consignee(s) from Port premises. Provided Bayan or Import Entry is filed within 3 days of vessel arrival, otherwise, demurrage starts calculation on vessel arrival. Which is charged and collected by the port authorities directly from consignee(s), without any influence and/or involvement of shipping lines/agents.

Demurrage Charges

Jeddah transshipment restrictions

Any cargo that is banned from import is banned from transshipping in Saudi Ports. However, in the case of transit cargo on board the vessel, same must be declared to customs 7 days prior vessel arrival.

Effective Date 15^th November 2021

Free time: Calendar day
Currency: SAR
Invoiced: Per container, per day, as per container type

Free time

Tariff after free time

Tariff after free time

Tariff after free time

Commodity

Any cargo containing alcohol, drugs, pork, pornographic articles, political and religious literature and products (such as Christmas trees, liquor chocolates) and Israeli goods are not allowed to be discharged, loaded or transshipped at any Saudi ports. IMO cargo (class 1, class 7) and military cargo consigned to Saudi Arabia should not be loaded, unless approval is received from Saudi OPS dept.

Please refer to Saudi Arabian operations manual for details.

Transshipment and Import restrictions:

• Alcohol/wine/spirits etc. on board must be declared to customs and vessel must have on board an alcohol in-transit declaration.
• In similar way, narcotics (for ship's use) should be declared by vessel's master to customs.
• Fireworks: Transit permission from port authorities prior loading of cargo is required. TRANSHIPMENT not allowed.
• Explosives: Transit permission from the Governor of Makkah is required for Jeddah. TRANSHIPMENT not allowed.
• Hazardous Cargo Import - Prior approval must be obtained.
• Jeddah: Ayman.Hariri@maersk.com; Nawaf.abujabal@maersk.com
• Dammam: Abdalaziz.Altraiki@maersk.com;
• Oversize/Overweight cargo - Prior approval must be obtained.
  Jeddah:  Mohammed.Hezam@maersk.com; Anis.Mahmoud@maersk.com;
• Dammam: MurtadaI.Alsebaa@maersk.com; Anis.Mahmoud@maersk.com; Abdalaziz.Altraiki@maersk.com;
• Split booking and combining BL after Import Manifest submission – NOT Acceptable
•  Vehicles more than 5 years old not allowed to discharge at Saudi Ports Classical and vintage cars are excluded from above restriction.
  LCL shipments are not directly handled by Carrier exception is allowed for used vehicle shipments for individuals.
• For Riyadh SD shipments (Through TRK repeat TRK ) cargo to be manifested as Dammam and cargo to be cleared in Dammam.
• Import LCL shipments are accepted in to Saudi Arabia (Its mandatory repeat mandatory to manifest separate Tpdoc for each customer/individual) 

Manifest Amendment

We strive to submit manifest as early as possible. If you have any amendments to the manifest, it is important that you submit in writing at least 4 working days prior vessel arrival.

If the amendment is not submitted timely, you can hand over the amendment request at the counter with the necessary documents. Amendments after vessel arrival will be at the discretion of customs. Please do check with our counter representative on the expected time to process your amendment. Below you may find detailed documents for your post arrival amendment requests:

Amendment in the Consignee name after manifest submission to Customs

• Amendment request letter should be submitted by authorized party i.e. the party on the BL (shipper/consignee), mentioning:
  
  a) the exact change (From/To).
  b) Maersk indemnity of any chargers/delays that may occur as a result of this request and requestor to take full liability including customs fines and port charges paid directly with the port.

• Old customer should provide endorsement letter under their company letterhead signed by him and authenticated by commerce.
• New consignee endorsement acceptance letter under their company letterhead signed by him and authenticated by commerce.
• Old delivery order if issued should be returned.
• Full set or 3 Original Bill of Ladings required to be surrendered

Change Packages No. and Change Weight after manifest submission to Customs

• Amendment request letter should be submitted by authorized party, i.e. the party on the BL (shipper/consignee), mentioning:
  
  a) the exact change (From/To).
  b) Maersk indemnity of any chargers/delays that may occur as a result of this request and requester to take full liability including customs fines and port charges paid directly with the port.
• Maersk Origin office confirmation email with shipper
• Original packing list with the correct packages No.
• Original commercial invoice with the correct packages No.
• Old delivery order if issued should be returned.
• Full set or 3 Original Bill of Ladings required to be surrendered
• Consignee to approach our office/counter for manual updates in EDI prior issuance of D/Order.

Final destination amendment after manifest submission to Customs

• Amendment request letter should be submitted by authorized party i.e. the party on the BL (shipper/consignee), mentioning:
  
  a) the exact change (From/To).
  b) Maersk indemnity of any chargers/delays that may occur as a result of this request and requestor to take full liability including customs fines and port charges paid directly with the port.
• Full set or 3 Original Bill of Ladings required to be surrendered
• Consignee to approach our office/counter for manual updates in EDI prior issuance of D/Order.

Delivery Order:

For your Delivery Order (D/O) you may approach our Counter and upon presentation of proper documents i.e. authorization authenticated by commerce and settlement of the relevant charges. As a prerequisite please make sure your documents are correctly endorsed.

To avoid any Storage or Demurrage charges, kindly collect your Delivery Order and gate-out your container at your earliest convenience upon vessel arrival.

Maersk Saudi Arabia Free time is 7 calendar days from container discharge, thereafter, Fees are applied as per the detention free time schedules provided from this site as well.

Note: Port demurrage - A free-time of 3 days is allowed to clear out the cargo by consignee(s) from Port premises (provided Bayan or Import Entry is filed within 3 days after vessel arrival). Which is charged and collected by the port authorities directly from consignee(s), without any influence and/or involvement of shipping lines/agents.

Demurrage Charges

Invoice

Your invoice will be posted online upon gating-in your containers.
It is possible to retrieve your own invoice from one of below options: Our website maersk.com / MyFinance (once registered) or by email to wcainvoice@maersk.com

Invoice Disputes

If you find an error in your open invoice and you wish to dispute it, follow the below steps:

1. Log in to maersk.com and then click on MyFinance (once registered).
2. Form the list of open invoices, click on the “create dispute” icon next to your open invoice.
3. Enter reason, description, and all required details.
4. Click Send.

After completing above steps, it is now registered as a dispute and will be handled by our team within 5 working days. You will receive the resolution by email to the email you provided. If your invoice is already closed and you wish to dispute it, you can drop an email to disputes@maersk.com.