Federal Maritime Commission

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 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.

In letters to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Commissioners Carl W. Bentzel and Louis E. Sola urged Congressional leaders to consider a means to help alleviate and bridge the financial gaps that could jeopardize continued healthy operation of the nation’s domestic marine terminal industry and maritime transportation system.

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.

Despite reporting a nine-month profit of $110.22m, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is forecasting a full loss of $1.45bn for the year ended 31 March 2016 as it undertakes structural reform of its container shipping and dry bulk businesses.

Congestion is a serious challenge to America’s continuing economic growth and competitive position in the world economy.

The Federal Maritime Commission believes that infrastructure investment is at the core of the discussion, however, other factors must be addressed in the near term to ensure an efficient and reliable international ocean transportation system and the relevant supply chain.

The P3 Network vessel-sharing agreement, whose objective is to give ocean carrier heavyweights Maersk, MSC, and CMA CGM the ability to discuss and agree on the size, number and operational characteristics of vessels to be operated on transatlantic and transpacific trade lanes between the U.S. and Asia, North Europe and the Mediterranean, was given the green light by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) earlier this month.