The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) in Washington DC has launched a probe into liner activity in the ports of New York, Los Angeles and Long Beach as shippers voice ever louder concern about the lack of available containers to shift their exports.
On 19 November, the FMC approved a supplemental order that expands the authority of Fact Finding 29, “International Ocean Transportation Supply Chain Engagement”. The Fact Finding 29 order was issued on 31 March with the primary purpose to identify operational solutions to cargo delivery system challenges related to recent global events.
The supplement authorizes the launch of the investigation, which will focus on the policies and practices of global liners relating to detention and demurrage, container return, and container availability for US export cargoes amid a near historical high tightness of available container equipment this autumn.
It is reported that the investigation will seek to determine if the policies and practices of those shipping companies related to detention and demurrage, container return, and container availability for U.S. export cargoes violate 46 U.S.C. 41102(c).
According to the press release
The Commission has a compelling responsibility to investigate the situations that currently exist in our major port gateways. The Commission is concerned that certain practices of ocean carriers and their marine terminals may be amplifying the negative effect of bottlenecks at these ports and may be contrary to provisions in the Shipping Act of 1984.
The FMC Chairman, Michael Khouri stated that the probe will include a review of any “potentially questionable practices.
Concluding, data by the Container Xchange, a a platform that sources available boxes for shippers, reveals the steep decline in box availability at the port of Los Angeles last week.
