The Federal Maritime Commission published its spring 2023 regulatory agenda and continued to mention several rules to implement the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, including a proposed rule to define unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods that violate U.S. shipping regulations. The FMC said it plans to issue that rule in December.
Hapag-Lloyd violated U.S. shipping regulations by failing to establish adequate facilities to return empty containers to the Port of New York and New Jersey and unfairly charging detention and demurrage for containers caught in the "logistical paralysis" of its own making, Rahal International said in a June 30 complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. Rahal, an Illinois-based importer and distributor of fruit and vegetable juices, said backlogs and delays created by the shipping line damaged some of its juice shipments, leading to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
German container shipper Hamburg Sud must pay nearly $10 million to OJ Commerce, an American e-commerce business, after Hamburg retaliated against OJC for threatening to file a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission, the FMC’s administrative law judge ruled June 7. The massive fine came after the FMC said Hamburg Sud, owned by major shipping line Maersk, violated the Shipping Act’s anti-retaliation provision and refused to fulfill contract terms.
Food importer Bakerly failed to establish that carrier Seafrigo USA violated shipping regulations in its complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission last year, Seafrigo told the FMC this week, adding that the importer's reasons for avoiding paying detention and demurrage charges "cannot withstand scrutiny." New Jersey-based Seafrigo asked the FMC to "reject" Bakerly's complaint and "hold that Bakerly is responsible" for more than $2 million in demurrage and detention charges that Seafrigo "paid on its behalf."
The Federal Maritime Commission last week approved a settlement agreement between U.S. metal trader CCMA and major ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The confidential settlement stems from a December CCMA complaint alleging MSC assessed it $114,000 in unfair detention and demurrage fees (see 2212080020). MSC denied those allegations, saying CCMA lacked "meritorious factual basis" for its claims (see 2301090017).
The Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act, a follow-up bill to OSRA from original co-sponsors Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., passed 58-1 out of the House Transportation Committee May 23.
Two ocean carriers recently paid a combined total of $2.65 million in civil penalties, the Federal Maritime Commission announced May 18. The penalties, assessed to Ocean Network Express Ptd. Ltd. (ONE) and Wan Hai Lines, Ltd., were paid to “resolve allegations of misconduct," the FMC said.
The American Cotton Shippers Association asked the Federal Maritime Commission to uphold a recent summary decision that ordered carriers to stop adopting, maintaining and enforcing regulations or practices that "limit the ability of a motor carrier to select the chassis provider." In an amicus brief filed to the FMC May 8, ACSA said it supports the decision because agreements between ocean carriers and non-party Intermodal Equipment Providers (IEPs) place limits on the “choice in chassis provisioning for U.S. cotton exporters, thereby causing delays in the movement of cotton, creating avoidably inefficiencies, imposing needless costs, and ultimately undermining the competitiveness of U.S. cotton shipments in the global marketplace."
CertiFit, a Utah-based auto parts importer, on May 4 filed a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission against Evergreen Line, accusing the ocean carrier of violating shipping regulations. CertiFit accused Evergreen of "systematically failing to meet its commitments" under a service contract, "refusing tendered cargo, refusing to provide empty containers, failing to provide necessary information concerning booking issues, and a refusal to deal," the complaint said. CertiFit is seeking reparations for Evergreen's alleged violations of the Shipping Act.
Over half of charge complaints submitted to the Federal Maritime Commission have been resolved by the parties agreeing to a settlement, FMC Managing Director Lucille Marvin said during a May 3 FMC meeting. More than half of what comes in gets settled "almost right away," Marvin said. Once "regulated entities see that we're involved, they come back to the table and issue refunds or waivers."