The Federal Maritime Commission (the “FMC”) issued its Final Rule on July 22, 2024, establishing its approach to determining what constitutes an unreasonable refusal to deal or negotiate cargo space and vessel space...more
Following its Feb. 23, 2024, release of a pre-publication draft, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC)'s Final Rule on Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements (Final Rule) was published on Feb. 26, 2024, in the Federal...more
Common carriers and marine terminal operators must start reviewing their current demurrage and detention billing process to ensure that their business practices fully comply with a new final rule issued by the Federal...more
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has granted special permission to ocean carriers to immediately increase the rates on containers that are being rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa or are retaining feeder...more
The Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) newly revised tariff regulations will be effective February 1, 2024. These rule changes will somewhat significantly change day-to-day practices for both vessel operating common carriers...more
The below e-mail recently received by the author paints the picture we are seeing a thousand fold in the current ocean shipping marketplace in the inbound/outbound Asia trade lanes which underscores the serous disconnect...more
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued a final rule exempting vessel operating common carriers (VOCCs) from publishing "essential terms" of service contracts. The final rule took effect on its publication date of...more
The authors previously reported that on or about February 27, 2019, the Ministry of Transport (“MOT”), PRC dropped formal application approval procedures and insurance (in the U.S., the China bond) requirements for all...more
In the last year or so, it has become clearly evident to us that ocean carriers are treating European and other forwarders differently than how they deal with U.S. forwarders, creating a distinctly competitive disadvantage...more
• The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has published a series of proposed rule changes covering licensing, financial responsibility requirements and general duties pertaining to ocean transportation intermediaries. • The...more
A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the shipping industry with respect to violations of the Shipping Act - can a single act constitute a Shipping Act violation or does there have to be more pervasive or systematic conduct? But...more
On September 22, 2018, Bill (SB-1402) was signed into law in California to become effective January 1, 2019. That law will make a “Customer” that engages or uses “a port drayage motor carrier” jointly and severally liable...more
The following is a short, to the point, summary of recent developments which impact transportation intermediaries, some of which can be implemented simply without fanfare, others which just bear careful monitoring. The...more
Ending a process that started back in 2004, the Federal Maritime Commission (“FMC”) voted unanimously on June 6, 2018 to exempt Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers (“NVOCCs”) from certain filing requirements related to their...more
• The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued Final Rules pertaining to Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC) Service Agreements (NSAs) and Negotiated Rate Agreements (NRAs) that will become effective Aug. 22, 2018. ...more
WHEN? On June 6, 2018, the Federal Maritime Commission took steps to simplify freight pricing requirements for Non-vessel Operating Common Carriers (“NVOCCs”) by “approving” changes to Negotiated Rate Arrangements (NRAs) and...more
El 6 de junio de 2018, la Comisión Federal Marítima de Estados Unidos (FMC por su sigla en inglés) aprobó en un voto un unánime (3-0) ciertos cambios que aliviarán las cargas regulatorias sobre intermediarios de transporte...more
On June 6, 2018, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) voted unanimously (3-0) to approve significant changes that will relieve regulatory burdens on Ocean Transportation Intermediaries (OTI) and simplify requirements for...more
Just when we thought the question of “What Is a Package?” had been addressed ad nauseum, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York took another look at the issue....more
Despite the alleged softening of the maritime industry since 2008-09, the volume of waterborne trade continues to rise. The ebbs and flows of the industry mean changing partnerships and alliances, more complicated logistics...more
In the recent opinion issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, World Imps., Ltd., et al. v. OEC Grp. N.Y. (In re World Imps., Ltd.), 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 7118, the Court determined that certain...more
The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking under which foreign unlicensed Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers (NVOCCs) will be allowed to register with the Commission and...more