Transport, trade and regulation

The lack of security around the supply of alternative fuels in a highly fragmented market will undermine ocean carrier efforts to decarbonize the industry, according to the world’s largest container ship owner.

Although the container shipping order book is the highest it has been in many years and demand remains subdued, the ground is shifting under the ocean market in new and unfamiliar ways, writes Peter Tirschwell.

Shippers want Congress to address their inability to challenge rail demurrage fees when they contract for merchant haulage, but finding a solution will be tricky, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

The carrier will pay the penalty to avoid the Federal Maritime Commission launching a formal investigation into whether it violated US detention and demurrage shipping laws.

The bipartisan legislation does not identify specific countries that manufacture the cranes that would be subject to inspection, but a statement from the co-sponsors specifically mentions China.

Rail storage has been at the forefront of recent regulatory discussion as the FMC solidifies its final rulemaking on detention and demurrage, with shippers wanting ocean carriers to be the billing party for such charges.

The growth in participation in FLOW is a signal that the private sector views the voluntary nature of the project as more amenable than governmental data-sharing mandates or legislation.

Rail storage fees continue to be a point of contention for shippers and the National Shipping Advisory Committee wants the FMC to step up and take ownership.

The change comes in advance of the FMC’s final rule on detention and demurrage billing that is due to be published in mid-June and has already generated pushback from marine terminal operators.

Ex-DOJ advisor John Crews will oversee the FMC departments that investigate and prosecute a growing number of shipping complaints.

An automotive parts importer alleges that after Evergreen failed to provide approximately 65% of contracted vessel space, it had to pay $750,000 on the spot market to secure capacity.

Logistics and industrial investment in the Asia-Pacific region was estimated at about $50 billion last year, down from a record $72 billion in 2021.

The rule changes will not have much of an initial cost impact on shippers as almost all New York-New Jersey terminals are closed on weekends and holidays, thereby not counting toward free time, and containers are now moving off the port faster.

Shippers, truckers and other transport interests have filed more than 287 complaints with the FMC since last June, mostly involving detention and demurrage billing.

The Port of Houston is changing its tariff to align with ocean carriers who are no longer charging detention and demurrage fees when terminal gates are closed, but it’s also increasing its own fees to incentivize cargo movement.

Currently, there is no US regulatory agency with direct authority to oversee application of rail storage fees under ocean carriers’ through bills of lading and to determine whether those charges are assessed properly.

The now-bankrupt retailer alleges the ocean carrier failed to provide the full vessel space it contracted for, then charged much-higher premiums to ensure its cargo wasn’t rolled.

Funds will go to projects that focus on reducing emissions from port-related truck idling, particularly in communities adjacent to ports.

The FMC is poised to implement potentially far-reaching changes in how detention and demurrage fees are assessed, a move that could cloud how to incentivize the movement of cargo through US marine terminals.

The scale of PSA International’s ambitions to expand its reach beyond its 60 container port terminals by leveraging the acquisition of a non-asset-based global logistics provider parallels Maersk’s own integrator ambitions.

The legislation would give the Federal Maritime Commission the direct ability to block carrier and terminal agreements it views as anticompetitive, without the need for a court order.

BIMCO’s head of Americas called for changes to the Carbon Intensity Indicator that would make the new regulation from the International Maritime Organization “fit for purpose.”

An advanced sense of “pragmatism” is needed for shippers and nations to cope with changes wrought by war and climate change, attendees at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk & Project Cargo Conference were told.

The Intermodal Association of North America is adding its voice to the chorus of opposition against a federal push to reclassify independent workers.

The inclusion of shipping in Europe’s ETS carbon pricing mechanism is almost a done deal, with legislators having one more bureaucratic hurdle left to clear.

Growing tension among shippers, ocean carriers, and logistics service providers over free time fees has ratcheted up with Hapag-Lloyd accusing subcontractor CSX of profiting from rail demurrage.

The main advocacy group for US ports said the step change in port funding over the coming years will mitigate future congestion and allow for better cargo flow.

The long-term impact of container shipping’s moment in the sun — and in the crosshairs of regulators — will come down to which of two starkly divergent versions of reality carries sway in Washington in the coming months.

The assessment of storage fees inside a terminal creates competitive pressures among marine terminal operators, their container line customers, and the importers that contract with container lines.

Looming federal rulemaking over detention and demurrage billing policy continues to compel container lines to refrain from assessing free time fees on weekends and holidays, with Hapag-Lloyd the latest to make such a change.

Ocean carriers are already rushing to fall in line with pending FMC rulemaking, with a string of liners announcing in recent weeks they will cease charging detention and demurrage on containers that cannot be picked up or dropped off when a terminal is closed for business.

While it may be easy to understand the desire to fix container shipping’s perceived problems with government intervention, no amount of reform would have prevented the shortage of capacity or record freight rates during the pandemic disruption, writes analyst Lars Jensen.

NSAC says it supports reasonable detention and demurrage practices, but wants to correct “abuse” of the system by regulating that rail operators directly invoice ocean carriers for storage, not importers.

The pressure on regulators to put a price on carbon emissions is growing as carriers ramp up investments in zero-carbon ships, which make their brands appealing to environmentally conscious shippers but expose them to lower-cost competition.

Data from eBLs issued via GSBN’s infrastructure will also be used to electronically release SABIC cargo at Hutchison and PSA terminals in Asia.

The fast-moving developments around changes to detention and demurrage billing are happening amid an ongoing rulemaking process by the FMC around the assessment of such charges to consignees and their drayage representatives.

The legislation aims for faster development of uniform data-sharing standards, while the co-sponsors say they were also motivated to protect US shipping interests from what they view as China’s malign influence over the supply chain.

The testimony comes as two House members prepare legislation designed to update OSRA-22 and another congressman restarts an effort to remove the antitrust immunity of ocean carriers.

HMM’s decision to immediately cease charging demurrage fees at closed terminals comes as the US Federal Maritime Commission is finalizing rulemaking around free time billing practices.

The legislation also aims to provide a boost for US exporters by prioritizing getting their products into foreign markets and better defending them against container rate increases and detention and demurrage fees.