Demurrage and Detention in Singapore: The 72-Hour Cliff on ONE's Import Tariff
Updated: Oct 5
Demurrage and detention are per-day charges for keeping a shipping line's container too long, and on ONE's published Singapore import tariff the first deadline is a cliff. Demurrage free time is 72 hours from discharge. Exceed it and demurrage is calculated back to discharge, so a 40ft dry box one day late owes SGD 315, not SGD 90.
Your container has landed in Singapore, the permit isn't approved yet, and nobody has told you which clock is already running. Weeks later, the charges show up as lines on an invoice, long after the hours that caused them.
Updated 13 September 2026 · By Iman Yusoff
Demurrage runs while your laden box sits in the terminal. Detention runs while the carrier's box is outside the terminal, from gate-out until the empty is back at the depot. They're separate charges on separate clocks, and on this tariff they don't behave the same way when you run over.
Key Takeaway: On ONE's Singapore import tariff, the 72 free hours of demurrage vanish the moment you exceed them, because the charge is then counted from discharge. Detention's note carries no such clause, and its table starts charging on day 6. Get the permit, payment and truck ready before discharge, then plan the unload.
Below, I'll show you where your free time comes from, how to calculate the charge from a real tariff, and the documents that start the meter before the ship berths. If you want the wider picture of charges that surface after a freight quote, start with hidden shipping costs that drain SME margins. This guide goes deeper on the two charges that do the most damage.
What Is Demurrage and Detention?
Demurrage and detention are charges for keeping a shipping line's container, or terminal space, longer than the free time allowed. Both are billed per container, per day, and both are separate from your freight. The difference is where the box is when the clock runs. If other terms on your invoice are unfamiliar, keep our shipping and customs glossary for SMEs open beside it.
The clearest legal wording I know comes from a United States federal rule on how these charges are billed. It defines demurrage or detention as charges "related to the use of marine terminal space (e.g., land) or shipping containers, but not including freight charges" (46 CFR 541.3). That's American law, not Singapore law. Still, it describes the same two things you'll see on a Singapore invoice.
Demurrage vs Detention vs Terminal Store Rent
A Singapore invoice can also carry a third charge that looks like the other two: the terminal's own store rent. ONE's Singapore import tariff states that "Demurrage excludes any terminal charges & store rent", and that store rent follows the terminal's published tariff (ONE, 2024). So one late box can carry three bills from two different parties.
Charge | Where the box is | Who bills it | Clock on ONE's tariff | If you run over |
Demurrage | Laden, inside the terminal | Shipping line | From discharge, 72 free hours | Counted back to discharge |
Detention | Outside the terminal, at your premises | Shipping line | From PSA gate-out to empty return, 5 free days | Table charges from day 6 |
Store rent | Inside the terminal | Terminal operator | The terminal's own tariff | Per that tariff |
One point settles a common worry. Singapore Customs doesn't charge demurrage. As we explain in our guide to why cargo gets held at Singapore Customs, these are commercial charges from the carrier and the terminal, not government fees. A customs delay can keep the clock running, but the bill never comes from Customs.
Where Does Your Free Time Come From in Singapore?
Your free time comes from your carrier's tariff and your booking terms, not from a Singapore regulation. That's why two importers on the same vessel can face different bills. The number you need is printed in a document you can download before you book.
Take ONE's Singapore import tariff, effective 1 April 2024 and listed "until further notice". For dry and reefer (general) containers, it grants three free days of demurrage and five free days of detention (ONE, 2024). Four lines in the fine print change how you should plan.
Free days are calendar days, "including week-ends and public holidays", and so are the chargeable days after them. A box discharged on a Friday evening burns its free time over the weekend.
Demurrage free time is "First 72 hours free from the time container is discharged from vessel". It's measured in hours from discharge, not from when you were told the box had arrived.
The same note continues: "In the event exceeding stipulated free-time, demurrage shall be calculated retrospective from the date / time container is discharged from vessel by 24-hour block." Miss the 72 hours and those hours are charged too.
Detention for an import box is computed from exit through the PSA gateway until the empty returns to the depot, "by 24-hour block". The detention note says nothing about retrospective billing.
A second carrier describes the detention start the same way. CMA CGM's Singapore import guide says detention starts when containers pass the CY gate on the way to the consignee's premises, rated per calendar day (CMA CGM, March 2024). Two independent carrier documents agree: the moment your truck leaves the gate, a new meter starts.
Who Charges Terminal Store Rent?
The terminal operator charges store rent, on its own tariff, separately from the carrier. ONE's note applies store rent "per terminal's published tariff" and keeps it out of the demurrage figure. That matters when you compare a forwarder's "port charges" line with a carrier's demurrage invoice: they may be two different bills for the same days.
Finding that tariff isn't always easy. In our own guide to hidden costs, we note that there's no public container storage tariff from PSA to look up, so the rate usually reaches you through your carrier contract, your terminal or your forwarder. Ask for it in writing before the vessel arrives, not after the invoice lands.
How to Calculate Demurrage and Detention Charges
To calculate demurrage and detention charges, count the chargeable 24-hour blocks on each clock, then price each block by the band it falls in. On ONE's tariff the two clocks count differently. Here's the table for dry and reefer (general) containers, exactly as published.
ONE Singapore import (dry / reefer general) | Days | 20ft | 40ft | 40ft H/C | 45ft |
Demurrage (3 free days) | 1–3 | SGD 40 | SGD 75 | SGD 75 | SGD 90 |
Demurrage | 4–8 | SGD 45 | SGD 90 | SGD 90 | SGD 100 |
Demurrage | 9 onwards | SGD 90 | SGD 180 | SGD 180 | SGD 200 |
Detention (5 free days) | 6–8 | SGD 45 | SGD 90 | SGD 90 | SGD 100 |
Detention | 9 onwards | SGD 90 | SGD 180 | SGD 180 | SGD 200 |
Source: ONE Singapore Import Demurrage & Detention Tariff, effective 1 April 2024. Special-equipment demurrage costs more: flat racks, open tops and temperature-controlled reefers start at SGD 120 for a 20ft and SGD 200 for a 40ft, with a top band of SGD 250 for a 40ft (ONE, 2024).
Read the day columns with the notes beside them. Demurrage has a band for days 1 to 3, which only gets charged because of the retrospective clause: once you're past 72 hours, those first three days are billed. Detention's table starts at day 6, after its five free days. Here's my reading of how the two clocks work:
Demurrage: out within 72 hours, SGD 0. Out later, every 24-hour block from discharge is charged, days 1 to 3 in the first band.
Detention: days 1 to 5 from gate-out aren't priced in the table, and the note states no retrospective clause, so charging starts on day 6.
Two things the tariff doesn't say, so confirm them with the carrier before you budget: how a part of a 24-hour block is counted, and whether any detention free days are ever billed back. Tariffs also change, and this one is dated 1 April 2024.
Worked Example for One 40ft Dry Container
Here's the arithmetic for one 40ft dry container on that table, using whole 24-hour blocks.
Demurrage. The box leaves the terminal 120 hours after discharge, which is 5 blocks. That's past 72 hours, so all 5 blocks count from discharge. Days 1 to 3 cost SGD 75 each (SGD 225). Days 4 and 5 cost SGD 90 each (SGD 180). Demurrage: SGD 405.
Detention. Unloading drags and the empty reaches the depot at the end of day 10 after gate-out. Days 1 to 5 are free. Days 6, 7 and 8 cost SGD 90 each (SGD 270). Days 9 and 10 cost SGD 180 each (SGD 360). Detention: SGD 630.
Total. SGD 405 plus SGD 630 makes SGD 1,035 in carrier charges on the ONE table (ONE, 2024), before any terminal store rent.
Now change one thing. If that box had left the terminal at hour 72, demurrage would be SGD 0 and the total SGD 630. Two days' delay at the gate added SGD 405.
And a practical sting: ONE requires both charges to be settled at the depot it assigns, before your empty container can be off-loaded. You can't return the empty and argue about the bill later.
Why the 72-Hour Free Time Is a Cliff, Not a Buffer
Here's my position, and the tariff's own wording backs it: treat the 72 hours of demurrage free time as a hard deadline, not as three days of slack. It's easy to read "3 free days" as a cushion. On ONE's Singapore note, running past it doesn't cost you one extra day. It costs you the whole period back to discharge.
The numbers make the cliff visible. A 40ft dry box that leaves at hour 96, one block late, owes three days at SGD 75 plus one day at SGD 90: SGD 315. The same delay on a 20ft costs SGD 165. Charging only the late day, at its day-4 rate, would have cost SGD 90 on the 40ft and SGD 45 on the 20ft.
Compare the same two days of overrun on each clock for a 40ft dry box. Two days past demurrage free time cost SGD 405. Two days past detention free time, returning the empty on day 7, cost SGD 180.
On a 20ft, it's SGD 210 against SGD 90. On this tariff, being late at the terminal gate is the dearer mistake.
Once both clocks run long, they converge. Demurrage reaches SGD 180 a day on day 9 from discharge, and detention reaches SGD 180 a day on day 9 from gate-out. The difference is only in how you arrive there.
When Collecting Fast Pays, and When It Stops Paying
The advice you'll hear first is "collect the container as fast as possible". On ONE's Singapore tariff, that advice is right for demurrage, and more right than it sounds, because of the clause above. Beat hour 72 and demurrage is SGD 0. Miss it and you pay from hour zero.
Where the advice stops paying is after the gate. Detention starts the moment the box exits PSA, and on the printed table it charges from day 6. So the sequence is simple: get out before hour 72, and only gate out a box your warehouse can unload and your haulier can return within five calendar days.
Generic free-time figures make this worse. A widely read explainer describes free time as typically five to seven days. ONE's Singapore import tariff gives 72 hours of demurrage free time from discharge.
If you budget on a week, you haven't just lost four days. You've walked past the cliff.
I'd never plan a Singapore import on a generic range. Use the carrier's printed number, and its fine print, or don't plan at all.
From 25 years in this trade, the pattern is consistent. Most of these problems are coordination problems, not shipping problems. The box sits because one party didn't have the right document, payment or truck at the right hour. If your shipment has already slipped a sailing, read what to do when a shipment is delayed or rolled before the box lands.
Which Documents Start the Clock Before the Ship Berths?
The documents that decide your bill are due before arrival, not after. By the time the box is discharged, your 72 hours are already counting down. Here's the paperwork chain from two carriers' Singapore documents and Singapore Customs itself.
The arrival notice. CMA CGM issues its arrival notice and invoice 3 working days before ETA for short-haul services and 5 working days for long-haul (CMA CGM, 2024). That's your real starting gun. Don't wait for a phone call.
The import permit. Every import into Singapore needs a customs declaration, and Singapore Customs routes all permit applications through TradeNet (Singapore Customs, updated 7 May 2026). A permit held up by a wrong code or a missing licence is the classic way the 72 hours disappear. Our guide to Singapore customs clearance and TradeNet permits walks through the filing.
The carrier's own deadlines. CMA CGM sets a deadline of 10 days after vessel ETA for importers to submit the import permit to the carrier, and says it will declare a missing permit to Singapore Customs if it doesn't arrive. For cash customers, it applies a late payment fee of SGD 150 if payment isn't received 3 calendar days after vessel arrival (CMA CGM, 2024). Neither deadline gives you extra free time.
Release Documents and Dangerous Goods
The release document. If you're still waiting on an original bill of lading to be surrendered, your box can be ready while your paperwork isn't. If you're unsure about the difference between telex release and sea waybill, or whether you need an original at all, read original bill of lading vs telex release vs seaway bill.
Dangerous goods. Dangerous goods handling at the terminal can run on a much shorter clock. CMA CGM's guide tells hauliers to check DG status on Portnet and gives PSA's dangerous goods group 2S as an example where "PSA recommend only 24 hours storage".
The same guide adds that a PSA penalty for a haulier no-show is for the consignee's account. If you import DG, book the truck before the vessel arrives, and read our dangerous goods shipping guide.
How Can You Avoid Demurrage and Detention Charges?
Here's how to avoid demurrage and detention charges: settle the free time, the documents and the truck before the vessel arrives. On ONE's tariff, hour 72 is the line that matters most. Work through these steps on every container.
Get the tariff and its notes at booking. Read the free-time notes, not just the rate table. The retrospective clause is in the notes.
Negotiate free time before you ship. Extra days are much simpler to agree while the clock hasn't run out than to claw back once it has. Get any extension in writing, on the booking.
Map hour 72 from the discharge time. Weekends and public holidays count. Write the deadline down as a date and time, not "three days".
File the permit before ETA. Use the arrival notice window of 3 to 5 working days to finish the TradeNet declaration and any controlled-goods licence.
Pay the carrier before the box lands. Don't leave the invoice for later: a CMA CGM cash customer faces a SGD 150 late fee if payment isn't received 3 calendar days after vessel arrival.
Book the haulier for hour 72, and the unload with it. Gate out inside the free hours, then empty the box within five calendar days.
Return the empty to the right depot. CMA CGM tells importers to use the depot code in the Storing Order on Portnet. A wrong depot is a wasted trip on a running meter.
If you're comparing forwarders, put these seven items in the quote request. Our method for comparing freight forwarder quotes line by line shows how to force them into the open.
What to Check When the Invoice Arrives
When a demurrage or detention invoice arrives, check who billed it, which clock it charges, and which container row it used. Check the start times and the equipment row before you question the rate.
Is it carrier demurrage, carrier detention or terminal store rent? They come from different parties and follow different tariffs.
Does demurrage run from the recorded discharge time? If the box left after 72 hours, billing from discharge matches ONE's clause, so check the timestamp, not the method.
Does detention run from the gate-out time, with the first charge on day 6?
Was a dry box billed at a special-equipment rate?
Does the US 30-Day Invoice Rule Apply in Singapore?
Be careful with advice written for American importers. The US rule requires a demurrage or detention invoice within 30 calendar days of the charge, or the billed party doesn't have to pay (46 CFR 541.7).
That rule governs US trades. Don't assume it protects a Singapore import. Your terms are the tariff and the booking you accepted.
Send Your Arrival Notice Before the Vessel Berths
The cheapest container bill is the one you plan out before discharge. Send me your arrival notice and booking terms before the vessel berths. My team at IFG Shipping will check which clocks your box will run on and what has to be ready before hour 72. Contact IFG Shipping and tell us your ETA, carrier and container type.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between demurrage and detention?
Demurrage is charged while your laden container stays inside the terminal past its free time. Detention is charged while the carrier's container is outside the terminal, from gate-out until the empty returns to the depot. On ONE's Singapore import tariff, demurrage gives 72 hours from discharge and detention gives five calendar days.
What does retrospective demurrage mean?
It means the free time is lost once you exceed it. ONE's Singapore import note says that if free time is exceeded, demurrage is calculated back to the time the container was discharged, in 24-hour blocks. A 40ft dry box leaving at hour 96 pays for four days, SGD 315, not one.
Is demurrage charged by Singapore Customs?
No. Both are commercial charges from the shipping line and the terminal, not government fees. Singapore Customs requires an import declaration through TradeNet, so a delayed permit can keep the clock running. The charge itself, though, always comes from the carrier or the terminal operator.
Do weekends and public holidays count as free days?
Yes, on ONE's Singapore import tariff. Free days and the chargeable days after them are both calendar days, including weekends and public holidays. A container discharged on Friday evening reaches hour 72 on Monday evening. Always check your own carrier's wording before you plan.
When does detention start for an import container in Singapore?
Detention starts when the laden container leaves the terminal. ONE's tariff computes it from exit through the PSA gateway until the empty returns to the depot, with charges on its table from day 6. CMA CGM's Singapore guide says detention starts when containers pass the CY gate towards the consignee.
Does demurrage include port storage charges?
Not on ONE's Singapore tariff. Its note says demurrage excludes terminal charges and store rent, and that store rent follows the terminal's own published tariff. Treat store rent as a separate bill from a separate party, and ask your terminal or forwarder for the rate before the vessel arrives.
How much is demurrage on a 40ft container in Singapore?
On ONE's Singapore import tariff effective 1 April 2024, a 40ft dry box out within 72 hours pays nothing. Once past 72 hours, it's charged from discharge: SGD 75 a day for days 1 to 3, SGD 90 for days 4 to 8, SGD 180 from day 9. Other carriers differ.
About the author: Iman Yusoff is the founder of IFG Shipping in Singapore, with 25 years in freight. He served as Hon. Secretary (2023–2025) of the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI).
Disclaimer: Demurrage and detention tariffs, storage charges and free time vary by carrier, container type, terminal, booking terms and date. Figures and clauses in this article come from the published documents named and dated above; the worked examples are my reading of those documents, using whole 24-hour blocks. Confirm current charges and how your carrier applies them before you plan or pay. This article is general information, not legal advice.
Content production support: SingRank, an SEO and AI search (GEO) agency in Singapore.
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