FMC

U.S. agencies are getting wake-up calls from Congress and shippers.

Following its passage by the U.S. Senate in late March, the U.S. House of Representatives last night followed suit, passing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) of 2022 by a 369-42 margin. The bill is now headed to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law, and will represent the first revamping of U.S. ocean shipping laws going back to 1998.

This follows a July 2021 inking of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which formalized the working relationship between the organizations and established a framework for partnership between the FMC and DOJ’s Antitrust Division that “enhances cooperation in the enforcement of antitrust and competition laws, including the Shipping Act…by facilitating information exchange between and among attorneys, economists, and technical experts,” according to DOJ and FMC.

The United States House of Representatives yesterday signed off on the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, H.R. 4996, yesterday by a convincing 364-60 vote. The bill was introduced by Representatives John Garamendi (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) in August, with the objective of making the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) “a more effective federal regulator.”

The recent executive order issued by the White House late last week, focusing on promoting competition within the American economy, has brought no shortage of opinions from supply chain stakeholders.

Container shortage continues to restrict options on the high seas.

The freight railroad and ocean shipping sectors are both very much in the crosshairs of an executive order (EO) issued by the White House this week, which is focused on promoting competition within the American Economy.

The letter did not mince words in laying out the case for the “urgent issue” of vaccinating the U.S. maritime workforce.

The maritime industry has been deeply affected as a result of the upheaval caused by the coronavirus and its impacts to Chinese manufacturing and logistics services.

The maritime industry has been deeply affected as a result of the upheaval caused by the coronavirus and its impacts to Chinese manufacturing and logistics services.

Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Commissioner Rebecca Dye said earlier this week that the initial phase of the investigation into port demurrage, detention, and free time practices has commenced, with the FMC ordering ocean common carriers to provide information and documents to explain these practices, adding that this is also happening United States ports container terminals.

Earlier this week, the Federal Maritime Commission said it voted to kick off an investigation that will focus on the practices of vessel operating common carriers and marine terminal operators related to detention, demurrage, and per diem charges. The investigation will be led by FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye, whom will examine detention, demurrage, and per diem practices and evaluate five key issues.

William P. Doyle has announced that he is stepping down from his post at the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission after serving under two very different Presidents.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) took an important step in its regulatory reform efforts this week when it voted to advance a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that simplifies and streamlines its Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC) Service Arrangements (NSA) and Negotiated Rate Arrangements (NRA) rules and procedures.

Earlier this week, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) said it signed off on an amendment to THE Alliance Agreement that, in a sense, ensures each member of THE Alliance has each other’s back in the form of a contingency fund that FMC said “can be used to help member carriers manage through, and recover from, the insolvency or financial distresses of a participating line.”