A Federal Maritime Commission proposal that would require container documentation to include the names of all non-vessel operating common carriers in a shipping transaction would create too large of a burden on industry, two logistics companies said in comments this month. One company said it wouldn’t be able to comply with the change, forcing it to regularly violate the regulation.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which would punish carriers who reject exports from West Coast ports if the Federal Maritime Commission deems those decisions as unreasonable, was signed into law June 16. The FMC is directed to begin a rulemaking on the matter. The law also puts the burden of proof on the reasonableness of demurrage and detention fees on ocean carriers, rather than the parties who were charged the fees.

Several Federal Maritime Commission systems are unavailable for use during required maintenance, including its e-monitoring, electronic reading room and certain forms, the FMC said June 13. The commission specifically said its Common Carrier Tariff and MTO Schedule Registration Automated Form FMC-1 is unavailable, as is its Application for License as an Ocean Transportation Intermediary Automated Form FMC-18. The FMC said the systems will be “electronically inaccessible to the public” until the maintenance is complete, but the FMC may be able to provide certain information via email. For e-monitoring lreports purposes, the FMC said industry should send monitoring reports, meeting minutes or other documents to tradeanalysis@fmc.gov and “cc (copy) the economist who is assigned to the agreement. Once the system is back online, we will ask you to submit the materials directly in the system.”

The June 13 passing of bill that aims to force shipping companies to accept U.S. exports on the return trip to Asia, and which further codifies Federal Maritime Commission's attempts to police detention and demurrage charges, was hailed by politicians as an inflation solution and greeted with caution by industry players.

President Joe Biden, speaking at the Port of Los Angeles, praised the collaborative work of port officials and workers and the government to break through logjams, and partly blamed foreign-owned shipping companies for rising prices.

The Federal Maritime Commission this week approved a $2 million settlement agreement with Hapag-Lloyd for alleged shipping violations involving the company’s detention and demurrage practices. Hapag-Lloyd also agreed to take several steps to improve its billing practices, including posting an updated tariff policy to its website, conducting a “training session” on the FMC’s detention and demurrage rule for all employees involved in billing, and publishing on its website a “complete list of locations that it has authorized to accept empty Hapag-Lloyd containers.”

The Federal Maritime Commission this week announced three new initiatives it hopes will aid shippers and address supply chain issues, including one that will establish a new International Ocean Shipping Supply Chain Program and another that will reestablish the commission’s Export Rapid Response Team. The FMC will also “take the steps necessary” for carriers and marine terminal operators to employ a designated FMC compliance officer.

The Federal Maritime Commission’s FMC-18 form is “currently experiencing issues,” the commission said in a June 6 notice. The FMC said it’s “working on a solution” for the glitch in the application to become an ocean transportation intermediary.

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Commissioner Rebeccca Dye of the Federal Maritime Commission this week released the final report stemming from a two-year investigation of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international ocean freight delivery system, which includes a dozen new recommendations to address supply chain and maritime logistics issues. The report, previewed by Dye last month (see 2205180056), has recommendations for mandatory FMC compliance officers, a clearer process for returning containers and a new investigation into carrier charges assessed through tariffs.