More action is needed to protect commercial cargo ships from attacks by Houthi rebels, shipping industry groups said after sailors aboard a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden died this week from a Houthi missile strike.
COSCO Shipping Lines charged unfair detention and unfair chassis, storage, stop-off and redelivery fees, Access One Transport said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission on March 1. The California-based motor carrier said that COSCO violated the Shipping Act by charging unfair fees when the containers couldn't be returned due to lack of appointments, dual transactions and specific actions by COSCO's and its terminals.
Ocean carrier Evergreen Shipping Line "systematically" failed to meet its service requirements, pressured its customers to pay "extracontractual prices and surcharges" and charged unfair detention and demurrage, Bed Bath & Beyond said in a Feb. 21 complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission. The former big box retailer specifically accused the carrier of failing to meet minimum quantity commitments as part of a contract and said it took space reserved for Bed Bath & Beyond and instead allocated it to "higher-priced cargo from other shippers."
The Biden administration on Feb. 21 announced a series of actions intended to strengthen cybersecurity at U.S. ports, including mandatory incident reporting requirements and minimum cybersecurity standards for ports and vessels.
Two Supply Source subsidiaries filed another five complaints at the Federal Maritime Commission Feb. 14 against multiple carriers, accusing them of violating the Shipping Act and charging unfair detention and demurrage from 2021 to 2022, leading to over $2.1 million in financial damages. The companies include COSCO Shipping Lines, Lihua Logistics Company Limited, CMA CGM, Overseas Container Line Limited, and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.
Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) violated the Shipping Act by assessing detention and demurrage for periods that were outside the shipper’s control, shippers told the Federal Maritime Commission. The complaint, filed Feb. 14 by Impact Products and Safety Zone, both subsidiaries of Supply Source, alleged that MSC refused to divert shipments to less crowded ports and failed to extend the number of free days afforded when ports were congested from 2021 to 2022, leading to over $200,000 in financial damages.
Visual Comfort & Co. (VCC) filed an amended complaint against COSCO Shipping Lines Co., the Federal Maritime Commission said in a Feb. 14 Federal Register notice. In the complaint, which was filed with the FMC Feb. 6, VCC said that from January 2021 to December 2022, COSCO didn't divert shipments to less crowded ports or extend the number of free days when "circumstances outside VCC's control" affected the shipment, leading to more than $1 million in damages.
More than a hundred organizations wrote an open letter calling upon governments to unite behind a “zero-tolerance” policy to deter attacks on vessels and seafarers in the Red Sea and “anywhere in the world.” The letter, dated Feb. 8, said that more than 30% of the world’s trade moves through the Red Sea and that the attacks have caused more than $80 billion in cargo to be “diverted” around the Cape of Good Hope.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is asking for more transparency around recent surcharges imposed by carriers, saying its members are seeing "sharply" increasing rates for shipping routes that never routed through the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden (see 2402080083 and 2401050066).
Exporters are reporting container costs changing from week to week due to attacks by Houthi rebels on commercial cargo ships moving through the Red Sea, said Eric Bartsch, the secretary of the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council and the American Pulse Association. Bartsch, speaking during a Feb. 7 Federal Maritime Commission hearing on Red Sea shipping disruptions (see 2402070078), said many of pea, lentil and pulse exporters are small businesses, and 65% of their crops are exported.