The Federal Maritime Commission will begin issuing information demand orders to ocean carriers and terminal operators to determine if they are violating detention and demurrage practices, the FMC said Feb. 17. The orders will be sent to ocean carriers operating in an alliance and calling at the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach or the Port of New York and New Jersey, and will require them to provide information on how they impose detention and demurrage charges, and their policies related to container returns and container availability for exporters (see 2012090009), the commission said.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is hoping to fund an emergency maritime relief program to help unclog port congestion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and provide relief for U.S. shippers. The Maritime Transportation System Emergency Relief Program, created last year, could provide more resources to terminals that are seeing severe shortages in skilled labor and equipment, and help alleviate the nationwide backups in trucks and container vessels, House members said.

For weeks, dozens of container ships have dotted the waters of California's San Pedro Bay, waiting to unload at a port experiencing its highest level of congestion in years. With no space to drop their cargo, the ships sit in limbo, further slowing imports and exports and clogging a global trading system that some shippers view as broken.

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America issued several tips for industry dealing with unfair detention and demurrage fees. In a Feb. 1 email to industry, the group said shippers and traders should try to work out a “satisfactory arrangement” with the billing party and should reference the Federal Maritime Commission’s guidance on fees (see 2009140045 and 2011170041). If a “reasonable solution” can’t be reached, the NCBFAA recommends reaching out to FMC’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services and sending a report to the FMC, which is reviewing the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on ocean transportation (see 2012180038 and 2011200024). The group also recommends bringing a formal case before the FMC if fees climb higher than six figures.

The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking tips from industry on ocean carriers and terminal operators that are violating regulations on detention and demurrage fees, the FMC said Dec. 17. The information will be used to aid the commission’s investigation into the unfair charges (see 2011200024) that began after industry complained FMC’s May rule on detention and demurrage was being ignored (see 2009140045 and 2011170041).

The Federal Maritime Commission is probing whether ocean carriers are refusing to supply containers to inland U.S. agricultural exporters in order to send more empty containers to Asia, FMC Chairman Michael Khouri said. Those actions may violate FMC regulations, he said, including the Shipping Act. “This abandonment of a significant U.S. export industry -- the American agricultural industry -- is shutting them out of global markets,” Khouri said during the Dec. 8 Global Maritime Conference. “We are looking into all potential -- I repeat -- all potential responsive actions.”

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The International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations issued a “toolkit” for industry to better understand and apply the Federal Maritime Commission’s May rule on detention and demurrage fees (see 2004290037). The toolkit, released last week, summarizes the rule, details its applicability and scope, and analyzes industry objections. The FMC recently announced an investigation into whether ocean carriers are violating regulations on detention and demurrage charges (see 2011200024), after industry said the rule is being ignored (see 2011170041).

The Federal Maritime Commission will begin investigating whether ocean carriers are violating regulations on detention and demurrage fees, container returns and container availability for U.S. exports, the agency said Nov. 20. The investigation, which will be led by FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye, will look at ocean carriers operating in alliances at the Port of Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of New York and New Jersey to determine if their unfair fees and container practices are “amplifying the negative effect of bottlenecks” at the ports.

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