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Ocean freight service provider Bermuda Container Line has confirmed that it will be implementing a fuel surcharge increase at the end of January.

Commencing on January 29, and effective with voyage 1946 - which is scheduled to depart from the United States on February 2, reach Bermuda on February 5, and then arrive back in the United States on February 8 - the company says its new bunker fees will be as follows:

Containers - $70 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU)

Ro-ro/Breakbulk cargo - 3.75% of freight charge

Bermuda Container Line (BCL) operates a weekly service between Port Elizabeth in New Jersey, and Hamilton, Bermuda, with the vessel MV Oleander.

Through an associated company, Somers Isles Shipping Ltd, BCL also operates a three-time-per-month service between Fernandina Beach in Florida, and Hamilton.

BCL is managed by Neptune Group Management Ltd, which is also the Bermudian agent for the line.

Last year, BCL ordered a new vessel to replace the Oleander, which is to be retired next year after shipping goods to Bermuda for more than a quarter of a century.

The new bunker-saving, 120-metre, 6,500-deadweight-tonne (dwt) ship is being constructed in Yangzijiang shipyard, China, and is due to enter into service in early 2019.

The vessel is to be equipped with fuel-efficient main and auxiliary engines, as well as incorporating the capability to convert to LNG operation.