The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission FMC(Federal Maritime Commission) Law Enforcement, Investigation and Compliance Bureau (Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations, and Compliance) accused ONE and Wanhai two ocean shipping companies of misconduct, the two shipping companies paid a total of 2.65 million U.S. dollars in fines and refunded the demurrage fees.
In April of this year, OceanNet Shipping (ONE) reached a compromise agreement with FMC to resolve its allegations of violation of US regulations, that is, the carrier was accused of the shipping company's strategies and practices in respect of stowage and demurrage charges, container return and availability of export cargo containers in violation of the provisions of the Federal Shipping Act by failing to establish, supervise and implement fair and equitable rules and practices, these rules and practices relate to the collection of container demurrage charges for "unable to provide empty container return locations" and "unable to reserve empty container return services.
Under the terms of the agreement, ONE agreed to pay a $1.7 million fine. The agreement contains an important new compromise clause in which ONE agrees that in addition to paying the penalty, it will also provide compensation to affected shippers in the form of refunds and waivers.
Separately, the committee reached a settlement agreement with Wanhai Shipping in a case dating back to December 2021. Wan Hai agreed to pay a civil penalty of $950000 to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with and enforce fair and reasonable practices in charging related fees such as "unable to make an appointment to return empty containers. In addition to paying the fines, Wan Hai also refunded to the affected shippers all demurrage fees charged under the relevant invoices.
FMC Chairman Dan Daniel Maffei said: "Today's announced agreement sends a clear message to the international shipping community that shipping companies must fully comply with U.S. legal obligations."
It is worth noting that in March this year, the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued a new regulation, which clearly mentioned that once the FMC finds that the fees charged by the carrier to the shipper are "unreasonable" or have other behaviors that may violate the US "Shipping Reform Act" (the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022), the FMC will immediately order the carrier to refund the fees. The new rules came into effect in April this year.
Specifically, with regard to the "unreasonable" charges, FMC explained that the carrier would have to pay the shipper a refund if it found that the invoice provided by the carrier to the shipper contained "inaccurate information" or that the information on the invoice provided did not meet FMC's requirements. The amount of the refund will take into account the nature, circumstances and severity of the carrier's "unreasonable conduct".
June 2022, the US Maritime Reform Act was officially signed. The bill is considered to be more beneficial to U.S. exporters, and it also gives FMC greater investigative powers. More regulatory measures for carriers have been announced, which also means that liner companies in the United States will face stricter supervision.
Source: Ningbo Shipping