ocean container carriers Archives - Maritime Shipping News

News alert: Regulators warn container lines to stop refusing US exports

17 December 2020

Growing allegations of ocean carriers abandoning U.S. exporters by not providing empty containers for shipments to Asia have led to heightened scrutiny for potential Shipping Act violations.

In a joint letter sent on Wednesday to the World Shipping Council (WSC) from the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), FMC commissioners Carl Bentzel and Daniel Maffei said that because of the current surge in containerized imports at U.S. ports, it is “imperative” that there be balance between carriers’ import...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/news-alert-regulators-warn-container-lines-to-stop-refusing-us-exports

World Shipping Council stays in step with Shipping Act

20 October 2020

The World Shipping Council (WSC) has filed an agreement with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to ensure that its continued container shipping advocacy work complies with the 1984 Shipping Act.

WSC submitted the six-page agreement to the agency on Oct. 1. Without objection from the commission, it will become effective Nov. 15.

Since its formation in 2000, the Washington-based WSC has interfaced with governments and advocated positions in regard to laws, policies, rules and regulations of...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/world-shipping-council-stays-in-step-with-shipping-act

Container return date upheaval by the numbers

20 October 2020

U.S. agriculture and forest product exporters are counting the ways and dollars it costs them when ocean carriers without warning change the dates for container arrivals at marine terminals.

The Washington-based Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) and supply chain technology firm TradeLanes recently reached out to hundreds of American shippers to survey the operational and financial impacts of earliest return date (ERD) fluctuations on their businesses.

The AgTC and TradeLanes have...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/container-return-date-upheaval-by-the-numbers

FMC considers changing service contract filing requirements

10 October 2020

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Friday announced it initiated a notice of proposed rulemaking that will consider a change to regulations that would allow initial service contracts to be filed at the agency up to 30 days after the agreement’s effective date.

This action is separate from the temporary exemption granted by the commission in April and extended earlier this month.

FMC Chairman Michael Khouri sees this potential regulatory action as one of many taken by the agency in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmc-considers-changing-service-contract-filing-requirements

Industry groups ready responses to FMC’s ocean carrier pricing review

8 October 2020

Freight transportation industry and shipper groups say they are preparing detailed responses to the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) review of ocean carrier pricing practices.

The FMC, which announced the notice of inquiry on Wednesday, said it is seeking information from the container-shipping public on alleged attempts by ocean carriers to hold companies financially responsible for transportation services that they did not contract for and may not legally be required to pay.

The FMC said...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/industry-groups-ready-responses-to-fmcs-ocean-carrier-pricing-review

FMC examines ocean carrier billing practices

8 October 2020

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) said it is seeking information from the container-shipping public on alleged attempts by ocean carriers to hold companies financially responsible for transportation services that they did not contract for and may not legally be required to pay.

The FMC said it received comments for its earlier Docket No. 19-05, Interpretative Rule on Detention and Demurrage under the Shipping Act, from industry groups such as the Agriculture Transportation Coalition and...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fmc-examines-ocean-carrier-billing-practices

Truckers counter ocean carrier effort to dismiss chassis complaint

6 October 2020

Drayage truckers represented by the American Trucking Associations’ Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference (IMCC) fired back at a group of ocean carriers’ effort to have a complaint before the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission dismissed.

The initial IMCC complaint, which was filed with the FMC on Aug. 17, alleged the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) and its 10 carrier members use “unjust and unreasonable” chassis provision model practices.

Specifically, the truckers claimed...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckers-counter-ocean-carrier-effort-to-dismiss-chassis-complaint

American exporters want end to erratic container return dates

5 October 2020

North Dakota specialty soybean exporter Robert Sinner has lost his patience with ocean carriers that without sufficient notice change the earliest delivery return dates for containers arriving at the nation’s seaports and he wants something done about it.

Sinner, whose company SB&B Foods has shipped container loads of soybeans to high-end food processors in Asia for the past two decades, said the problem has gone from bad to worse during the past five years.

“It drives us crazy,” he told American...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/american-exporters-want-end-to-erratic-container-return-dates

FMC extends coronavirus-related service contract filing flexibility

1 October 2020

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Thursday afternoon voted to extend an order that allows service contracts to be filed up to 30 days after they take effect to provide relief to shippers, freight forwarders and consolidators, and ocean container carriers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The initial order, which the FMC approved on April 27, had been scheduled to expire Dec. 31. However, the commission approval of the order’s extension will provide the ocean container shipping...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fmc-extends-coronavirus-related-service-contract-filing-flexibility

FMC keeps spotlight on ocean forwarder, consolidator concerns

14 September 2020

The coronavirus pandemic may have disrupted international supply chains for much of the year, but a top official at the Federal Maritime Commission said his agency has remained vigilant in its responsibility to ensure competition within the U.S. ocean container shipping trades.

“I am pleased to say that, because of advance planning and preparation, the commission has remained fully open and operational throughout these difficult times,” FMC Chairman Michael Khouri told online attendees of the Nat...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fmc-keeps-spotlight-on-ocean-forwarder-consolidator-concerns

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