The EBS is intended to help carriers recover their bunker costs.
An Emergency Bunker Surcharge (EBS) is a fee that carriers have started to implement due to the rising prices of fuel, which have increased by 19% since April 2018.
The reason for the increase in fuel prices is linked to the price of oil, which is determined by Brent Crude Oil. The Brent Crude Oil price has been on the rise since the beginning of 2017 when OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) began reducing their oil supply. Carriers did not anticipate the early 2018 spike in oil prices and are now implementing EBS to recover costs.
The duration of an EBS will vary and is decided by the individual carrier, but the prices of oil are expected to continue to rise through 2018 due to the ongoing oil cuts and the U.S. sanctions against Iran. These surcharges will vary depending on the carrier and trade lane.