Commissioner in Charge of Maritime Data Project Leaving FMC
Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel is leaving the FMC to become president of the National Association of Waterfront Employers and executive director of the National Maritime Safety Association, he said in a Dec. 13 statement. “I am looking forward to this exciting opportunity to continue to work within the maritime industry and to contribute to the growth of the terminal operating industry,” he said.
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Bentzel was nominated to serve on the FMC in 2019 by President Donald Trump. He most recently headed an FMC initiative to address data constraints impeding ocean cargo flow, and was working on recommendations to expand ways carriers, ports, railroads and others can better share supply chain data and real-time shipping information (see 2408190050 and 2111160006).
In his statement, Bentzel said he’s leaving the commission a “framework and recommendations for moving forward” on this maritime data initiative. “I urge my colleagues at the FMC to quickly move forward to consider my recommendations and allow for public comment and voting on a rule to institute common sense steps to provide day-to-day seamless information sharing and proactively avoid needless economic loss.”
He also called on the FMC to continue assessing how attacks by Yemen-based Houthis on commercial cargo ships are impeding ocean shipping in the Red Sea (see 2405020067, 2403070061 and 2401050066), and to address rising U.S. dependence on Chinese transportation services.