Is a late SI fee the same as an amendment fee?

No. A late SI fee is for documents received after the SI cut-off. An amendment fee is for changing details after the cut-off or after the B/L is issued. You can be charged both.

Can a container be rolled because of a late SI?

Yes. If documents arrive after the cut-off, the carrier can refuse to load the container and move it to a later sailing.

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GUIDE

How to avoid SI amendment fees and late SI charges.

4 min read · Updated 4 November 2026

Every carrier publishes local charges for documents that arrive late or need correcting after the deadline. Each fee is small, but across hundreds of SIs a month they add up, and a missed cut-off can roll the container to the next vessel.

The fees that hurt

Charges vary by carrier and country, but they follow the same pattern: a fee for a late SI, and a larger fee for each change after the SI cut-off or after the bill of lading is issued.

For example, Hapag-Lloyd's 2026 local charges for Germany list a late shipping instruction fee of EUR 70 per document and an amendment fee of EUR 125 per amendment after SI closing. Check your carrier's local charges sheet for your country.

Where the amendments come from

Typos while re-typing the SI into the carrier's website
Container numbers or counts that don't match the booking
Weights that don't match the VGM
Wrong consignee or notify party copied from an older shipment
Draft B/L errors that nobody spotted before the final B/L

A routine that stops most of them

Check every SI against its booking confirmation and VGM before submitting
Run the container number check digit on every container
Work cut-offs in order of time left, not in order received
Copy values in the carrier form's order instead of re-typing
Compare the draft B/L against the approved SI before confirming it

Doing it automatically

LOGIDOC runs these checks the moment an SI or VGM arrives in your inbox, sorts everything by cut-off, and lays the approved data out in the carrier form's order with copy buttons. Your team still approves every document.

Free tools for this

Free toolContainer number checkerCheck one container number or a whole list against the ISO 6346 check digit.Open →Free toolVGM calculatorWork out the verified gross mass with SOLAS method 2 and check it against max gross.Open →

Questions

Is a late SI fee the same as an amendment fee?: No. A late SI fee is for documents received after the SI cut-off. An amendment fee is for changing details after the cut-off or after the B/L is issued. You can be charged both.
Can a container be rolled because of a late SI?: Yes. If documents arrive after the cut-off, the carrier can refuse to load the container and move it to a later sailing.

Sources

Hapag-Lloyd: Germany local charges and service fees (2026)

Let LOGIDOC do the checking

LOGIDOC reads every SI, VGM and booking confirmation from your inbox, flags the errors before the cut-off, and lays the approved data out for the carrier's website. Book a 30-day pilot or try the demo.

Guide · 5 min readWhat is a shipping instruction (SI)? Fields, cut-off and common errors.A plain guide to the shipping instruction (SI) in sea freight: what it contains, when the SI cut-off is, and the mistakes that lead to amendment fees and rolled containers.Open →Guide · 5 min readVGM (verified gross mass) explained: SOLAS method 1 and method 2.What the VGM is, who must declare it, how to calculate it with SOLAS method 1 or method 2, and the checks to run before the VGM cut-off.Open →Guide · 4 min readHow the container number check digit works (ISO 6346).How a shipping container number is built under ISO 6346, how the check digit is calculated, and how to spot a mistyped container number in seconds.Open →

Stop re-typing. Start checking.

Run LOGIDOC next to your current process for 30 days and see the errors it catches.

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