A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge ordered marine terminal operator APS East Coast (Amports) Dec. 16 to stop invoicing Ports America Chesapeake (PAC) and Marine Terminals Corporation-East (MTCE) for $1.3 million in non-preferred stevedore access fees, saying the charges were “unjust and unreasonable” because they were “much higher” than the fees charged to the preferred stevedore.
A report released by outgoing Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel (see 2412130068) calls on the FMC to create a new Maritime Transportation Data System, which he said would allow the ocean shipping industry to better share and receive information on planned carrier voyages, cargo retrieval windows, real-time vessel transits and times of arrival, and more.
Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel is leaving the FMC to become president of the National Association of Waterfront Employers and executive director of the National Maritime Safety Association, he said in a Dec. 13 statement. “I am looking forward to this exciting opportunity to continue to work within the maritime industry and to contribute to the growth of the terminal operating industry,” he said.
The Federal Maritime Commission is ending one of its two investigations into new Canadian rules that were thought to have imposed unfair burdens on U.S. vessels, making the announcement after Canada granted exemptions for six ships and took other steps to “temporarily” resolve the issue. The FMC said it’s still moving forward with a separate, broader investigation into whether the Canadian regulations unfairly affect all U.S.-flagged Great Lakes vessels.
The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating reports that the Spanish government is denying port access to ships participating in the Maritime Security Program led by the U.S. Maritime Administration, it said in a notice.
The Alliance for Chemical Distribution (ACD) led a group of more than 20 shippers and trade associations in urging the Federal Maritime Commission Dec. 3 to implement the proposed Maritime Transportation Data System (MTDS) through a rulemaking.
Ocean carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Services unfairly charged more than $136,000 in fees for a cargo container that spent more than 20 months in detention, Baylink Shipping said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission.
California-based motor carrier Access One Transport and France-based ocean carrier CMA CGM have jointly asked the Federal Maritime Commission to approve a confidential agreement that would settle Access One’s complaint against CMA CGM over unfair detention and unfair chassis, storage, stop-off and redelivery fees, according to a notice FMC released Nov. 22. Access One filed its complaint in April (see 2405010027). CMA CGM answered the complaint in May by denying the allegations.
The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking public comments on information collections related to marine terminal operator schedules, service contracts, non-vessel-operating common carrier service arrangements and negotiated rate agreements. Comments are due Jan. 21,
The Federal Maritime Commission is asking the parties to a West Coast ocean shipping and port agreement to provide more information about their alliance before an updated version takes effect, it said in a notice released this week.