A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge ordered Taiwan-based ocean carrier Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. March 24 to pay $517.50 of the approximately $1.3 million that shipper Supply Source sought for what it said were unfair demurrage and detention fees charged in 2021 and 2022.
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge has approved a confidential agreement to settle allegations by Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. that ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) violated the terms of a service contract and unjustly assessed millions of dollars in demurrage and detention fees, according to an FMC notice released March 21.
The Federal Maritime Commission is asking for public comments on an information collection related to ocean common carriers that are subject to the FMC’s regulations. The notice said these controlled carriers must ensure that they don’t maintain rates or charges in their tariffs and service contracts “that are below a level that is just and reasonable; nor establish, maintain, or enforce unjust or unreasonable classifications, rules, or regulations in those tariffs or service contracts that result or are likely to result in the carriage or handling of cargo at rates or charges that are below a just and reasonable level.” Public comments are due April 23.
The Federal Maritime Commission is warning government contractors about “fraudulent solicitations” sent via email from people pretending to be from the FMC. The commission urged companies to check emails for an address that ends in “@fmc.gov.” Emails that don’t end in “@fmc.gov” means “the address did not originate at the Federal Maritime Commission,” it said.
The Federal Maritime Commission has asked a group of major ocean shipping carriers to provide it with more information about an amendment to an agreement that would allow them to participate in the New York Shipping Exchange index governing board, “which shall discuss and agree on all aspects of the development, implementation, modification and auditing of container freight indices, as produced by NYSHEX,” the FMC said in a notice released March 14. The commission said its notice prevented “the proposed amendment to this agreement from becoming effective as originally scheduled” on March 12. The parties to the agreement are carriers CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, COSCO Shipping Lines, COSCO Shipping Co., HMM, Maersk, and Ocean Network Express.
The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating how transit constraints at several “maritime chokepoints” around the world may be affecting ocean shipping and whether those constraints have been caused by foreign governments or foreign-flagged ships. The commission is specifically looking into constraints on ships traveling through the English Channel, the Malacca Strait, the Northern Sea Passage, the Singapore Strait, the Panama Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, it said in a Federal Register notice released March 13. It said it may hold hearings, issue subpoenas or order testimony through depositions.
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge ordered Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Feb. 25 to pay about $16 million in civil penalties for violating U.S. shipping laws.
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge on Feb. 6 dismissed U.S. importer CertiFit’s complaint against New Jersey-based Evergreen Shipping Agency, saying Evergreen Shipping is not an ocean carrier regulated by the FMC. Evergreen Shipping is instead an agent for carrier Evergreen Line, which is not a party in the case, the judge said. CertiFit had accused Evergreen Shipping of failing to meet its commitments in violation of the Shipping Act (see 2401230051). Evergreen Shipping denied the allegations.
Double Ace Cargo, a Florida-based non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVOCC), has paid $165,000 in civil penalties and is paying for an independent monitoring of its business practices under two compromise agreements it reached with the Federal Maritime Commission over the past nearly two years, the FMC announced Feb. 7.
A new vessel sharing agreement between Japanese carrier Ocean Network Express, South Korea-based Hyundai Merchant Marine and Taiwan-based Yang Ming Marine Transportation (see 2411070005) will take effect Feb. 9, the Federal Maritime Commission said Feb. 6 after completing its review. The commission said it carried out an “economic analysis of the competitive effects of the” arrangement, called the Premier Alliance Agreement, adding that all agreements “are subject to the strictest standards for ongoing monitoring by the Commission.”