The Federal Maritime Commission should develop a strategy to modernize how it collects data, so the agency can better monitor shippers' challenges and trends in the maritime shipping industry, the Government Accountability Office said in one of four recommendations to the FMC in an April 23 report examining whether carriers took advantage of shippers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zim Integrated Shipping Services charged unfair detention and unfair chassis, storage, stop-off and redelivery fees for containers that couldn't be returned due to lack of appointments or terminal closures out of its control, Access One Transport said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission on April 16.

The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking comments by June 17 on what data elements are communicated between transportation service providers and importers and exporters about "containers moving through marine terminals." It also seeks information on how changes are conveyed and where communication is most likely to break down "or information is most likely to be conveyed inaccurately," the commission said. The effort, the commission said in a request for information released April 15, is an expansion of the commission's May 2023 Marine Transportation Data Initiative and its associated August 2023 request for information regarding data availability, accuracy, and exchange, the FMC said.

FORT LAUDERDALE -- The effective date for the Federal Maritime Commission's new rule on detention and demurrage may not provide a long enough "runway" for industry to prepare, given that it's a "systemic alteration" of how the industry operates, said Ashley Craig of Venable. He said he suspects there will be a lot of "head scratching" after the rule becomes effective on May 28 (see 2402230049).

The Federal Maritime Commission's enforcement bureau is asking the agency's administrative law judge to fine major ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Company $63.2 million for violating U.S. shipping regulations. MSC used “overbroad” merchant clauses in its bills of lading, billed incorrect rates for certain containers and failed to publish certain container tariff rates, causing "obscurity" and "uncertainty" for shippers, the commission's Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations and Compliance said in an April 3 report.

The U.S. hopes to open a “limited access channel” to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April and to fully reopen the channel by the end of May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said April 4. The limited channel would be 280 feet wide and 35 feet deep, the Corps of Engineers said, and would “support one-way traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore” following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month (see 2403260047).

Shipping company Shiplane Transport said ocean transportation firm Seaboard Marine violated the U.S. shipping regulations when it moved its containers without consent, refused to issue it a bill of lading, engaged in price fixing and solicited customers unfairly, Shiplane said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission April 3.

The U.S. government hasn't yet identified a timeline for cleanup of the wreckage at the Port of Baltimore after the Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a container ship on March 26 (see 2403260047), Baltimore Port Director Adam Rottman said on an April 2 CBP call. Rotman said CBP also is requiring that cars that were already cleared for export must be transported under bond to a new port. CBP will issue further CSMS messages as it gets "more concrete information," another CBP official on the call said.

The Port of Baltimore suspended all vessel traffic into and out of the port “until further notice” due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was hit by a container ship in the early morning March 26.

Shippers continued to press the Federal Maritime Commission on why it allowed carriers to bill Red Sea-related surcharges without a 30-day notice, saying during a March 6 meeting of the National Shipping Advisory Committee that carriers failed to justify those charges.