In a pollution case that continues to be under investigation, the chief engineer of a Marshall Islands bulk carrier has been sentenced to prison for deliberately discharging approximately 10,000 gallons of oil-contaminated bilge water overboard in U.S. waters off the coast of New Orleans last year, and for obstructing justice. The illegal conduct was first reported to the Coast Guard by a crew member via social media.
The Honorable Nannette Jolivette Brown sentenced Russian national Kirrill...
The trucking owner-operator business model is getting more legal challenges. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision in May 2021 that ruled in favor of Schneider’s contract terms, creating a situation where an owner-operator is effectively an employee based on its interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The suit, filed in July 2020 by Eric Brant, claimed he was effectively...
When calculating the return on investment of compliance programs, trucking companies often look at the colossal costs that could be incurred after safety protocol has been violated. These costs include nuclear verdicts, insurance hikes from those violations and other repercussions.
In an interview with FreightWaves, Hunter Yaw, co-founder and CEO of trucking compliance software provider LogRock, explained the importance of the framework that compliance costs are presented to trucking company...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/logrock-ceo-what-is-compliance-costing-you-today
Flexing its muscle after enactment of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, Federal Maritime Commission is reorganizing its investigative and prosecution functions by consolidating them into a newly created Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations, and Compliance (BEIC), effective immediately.
The newly established Bureau will be headed by an attorney in the Senior Executive Service with regulatory, prosecutorial, and investigatory experience. The Commission’s Managing Director, Lucille M. Marvin, will...
https://www.marinelog.com/legal-safety/compliance/fmc-beefs-up-its-enforcement-apparatus/
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Liberian-flagged oil tanker AG Neptune from Australian ports for six months for breaches of the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC).
According to the Equasis data base, the 2013-built, 105,405 dwt ship is managed by Singapore-headquartered AG Shipping & Energy Pte Ltd.
AMSA inspected the ship in the Port of Gladstone, in central Queensland, on June 17, 2022 after receiving a complaint regarding the underpayment of seafarers and welfare...
Though the latest meeting of IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection was widely criticized for taking “just baby steps” on decarbonization, some of those steps still place a significant compliance burden on shipowners. For example, from January 1, 2023, all ships over 5,000 grt will be required to carry a verified SEEMP Part III manual on board. The requirement was finalized in the latest amendments to MARPOL Annex VI and the associated guidelines made at MEPC 78 last month. The first vessel to...
https://www.marinelog.com/legal-safety/compliance/dnv-recognizes-first-verified-seemp-iii-vessel/
An employee worked for his employer for 27 years, during which he periodically took leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). He retired and then filed a lawsuit against his employer after a conversation with his employer’s FMLA manager who allegedly discouraged him from taking more FMLA leave. On appeal, the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana) clarified that an employer can violate the FMLA simply by discouraging, not...
Nobody is that delighted with the outcome of last week’s meeting of IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC 78). The Clean Shipping Coalition characterized its results as “baby steps” towards increasing IMO’s decarbonization ambition, but said immediate action was still missing.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), representing 80% of the world’s merchant fleet, was particularly scathing about the committee’s failure to move forward on industry proposals for a $5 billion...
An employee filed a lawsuit against his employer after his employer terminated him for his reaction to a surprise birthday party in his honor. The employee claimed that he was unlawfully discriminated against based on a disability, and that the employer failed to accommodate his disability and retaliated against him. After a trial, the jury in Kentucky awarded him $450,000.
Background
Prior to his birthday, the employee asked his employer if they could skip the festivities that year, due to his...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/office-birthday-party-costs-employer-450000
The Federal Maritime Commission yesterday approved a settlement agreement reached between its Bureau of Enforcement (BoE) and Hapag-Lloyd AG. It will see the ocean carrier pay a $2 million civil penalty to address alleged violations related to its detention and demurrage practices.
“To restore full confidence in our ocean freight system, vigorous enforcement of FMC rules is necessary,” said FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei. “Specifically, we must ensure powerful ocean carriers obey the Shipping Act...
https://www.marinelog.com/legal-safety/shipping/hapag-lloyd-in-2-million-settlement-with-fmc/