Browse Signals™ Monthly Updates below
December 2000
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) recently announced eight compromise agreements resulting in civil penalties in an aggregate amount of $630,000. All amounts shown below are in US Dollars. Thes…
December 2000
The Federal Maritime Commissioners will meet in a closed-door session on December 6, 2000 to review Docket 98-14: Shipping Restrictions, Requirements, and Practices of the People’s Republic of China…
December 2000
In a formal petition the Port of Houston requested the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) initiate a rulemaking to address the lawfulness of marine terminal tariffs, schedules or contracts which provid…
November 2000
China National Foreign Trade Transportation (Group) Corp., d/b/a SINOTRANS, has petitioned the Federal Maritime Commission for a limited exemption from the FMC's controlled carrier tariff publish…
November 2000
The FMC has re-issued Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI) licenses to several of ocean freight forwarders and NVOCCs whose licenses were terminated earlier this year due to their failure to m…
November 2000
The FMC recently terminated the licenses of 41 Ocean Transportation Intermediaries (OTIs). Most of these terminations are due to failure to maintain surety bonds. In few cases, licenses…
October 2000
The US Senate has approved the nomination of Delmond Won to serve a second term on the Federal Maritime Commission. President Clinton appointed the Hawaii Democrat to the FMC in 1994. Commissio…
October 2000
The Federal Maritime Commission recently made its Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2001 through 2005 available to the public. The plan focuses on improving the effectiveness of the Commission and it…
October 2000
At a meeting of the Federal Maritime Commission on September 20, 2000, the Commissioners declined to decide on exactly what is a "reasonable fee" for access to tariffs published by ocean carriers,…
October 2000
The Federal Maritime Commission has updated its list of Controlled Carriers. These are ocean common carriers operating in U.S.-foreign trades that are owned or controlled by foreign governments. The…
September 2000
The Federal Maritime Commission has amended its regulations to increase the maximum penalties it may assess for violations of the Shipping Acts, the Merchant Marine Act, and FMC regulations. The…
September 2000
The Federal Maritime Commission recently terminated the licenses of 29 Ocean Transportation Intermediaries (OTIs). These are in addition to the 130 terminations announced last month. These include…
September 2000
More than 60 ocean carriers have been ordered by the Federal Maritime Commission to furnish detailed information about the practice of marine terminal operators on the lower Mississippi River en…
July 2000
The Federal Maritime Commission has issued an interim status report that discusses the first year of operations under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 ("OSRA"). The purpose of the report is …
July 2000
The Federal Maritime Commission recently published formal notices in the Federal Register to advise the shipping public that 130 ocean transportation intermediary (OTI) licenses have been terminated…
May 2000
Ocean carriers whose vessels do not directly call US ports will be required by the FMC to comply with NVOCC licensing and bonding regulations as of August 7, 2000. After more than a year of considera…
May 2000
A compromise agreement between the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), Hyundai Merchant Marine Company, Ltd. (Hyundai) and Mediterranean Shipping Co., S.A. (Med Shipping) has settled allegations these …
May 2000
A compromise agreement between the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), A.P. Moller-Maersk Line (Maersk), Sea-Land Service, Inc. (Sea-Land), and P & O Nedlloyd Limited (P&O Nedlloyd) has settled…
May 2000
The FMC's Executive Director has reminded all Carriers of their obligation to publish complete and accurate tariffs, and make these available electronically to the Commission and the Shipping Public a…
April 2000
During March 2000 the FMC Bureau of Enforcement collected a total of $1,060,000 in penalties from four vessel operating common carriers and fourteen ocean transportation intermediaries (OTIs). Th…
March 2000
The FMC has implemented a major reorganization of its bureaus and offices responsible for agreements, service contracts, tariffs, OTI licensing, consumer complaints, passenger vessel certificates, and…
March 2000
A more restrictive definition of "vessel operating common carrier" (VOCC) will be considered by the FMC Commissioners at their meeting on March 8, 2000. This definition was initially proposed during…
March 2000
The FMC has proposed changes to its regulations to create a more flexible definition of "branch office" for Ocean Transportation Intermediaries (OTIs), and to ease restrictions on OTI qualifying indiv…
February 2000
FMC Chairman Hal Creel has ordered the Commission's staff to prepare a report on the impact of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) of 1998. The study will assess industry compliance with the new reg…
February 2000
The popularity of confidential service contracts will form a key part of the OSRA impact report. Ocean carriers are required to file the complete text of service contracts, both new and amended, with…
February 2000
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. ('K' Line) has filed a complaint with the FMC alleging Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., (Intercontinental) failed to remit payment for freight charges, made false statement…
February 2000
A new vessel measurement system used by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA) to assess dockage charges has prompted Crowley Liner Services, Inc. and Trailer Bridge, Inc. to file a complaint with the…
February 2000
Inlet Fish Producers has alleged Sea-Land Service unfairly assesses freight charges for frozen seafood shipments. According to documents made public by the Commission, Inlet Fish claims Sea-Land allo…
February 2000
The Bureau of Economic and Agreement Analysis, directed by Ms. Florence A. Carr, is the FMC's in-house expert on the economics of international liner shipping. It monitors the activities of vessel ope…
January 2000
Bruce A. Dombrowski has replaced Edward P. Walsh as Managing Director of the Federal Maritime Commission. Effective January 1, 2000, Bruce Dombrowski assumed the Managing Director's position after ha…
January 2000
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 (OSRA) did not eliminate the prohibition on illegal rebating, but it did drop the certification requirement. As many of our readers will recall, in years past, t…
January 2000
Imex Shipping Inc., a Newark, NJ based NVOCC, has paid US$55,000 to the FMC to settle alleged violations of the Shipping Act. According to Docket 99-17, the FMC alleged that Imex received rebates fro…
January 2000
The recent entry of China Shipping Container Lines Co. Ltd. (China Shipping) into the transpacific trade has prompted the FMC to issue another "Information Demand Order." This order is similar to ord…
January 2000
A related proceeding, Docket 99-05, which investigated service contract practices of the Asia North America Rate Agreement (ANERA), has also been discontinued. ANERA suspended its collective rate mak…
