A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge on Dec. 18 dismissed a complaint against CMA CGM, saying that New York-based freight forwarder Marine Transport Logistics (MTL) failed to show that the France-based ocean carrier routinely engaged in unreasonable conduct with container shipments.

A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge ordered marine terminal operator APS East Coast (Amports) Dec. 16 to stop invoicing Ports America Chesapeake (PAC) and Marine Terminals Corporation-East (MTCE) for $1.3 million in non-preferred stevedore access fees, saying the charges were “unjust and unreasonable” because they were “much higher” than the fees charged to the preferred stevedore.

Recent reports of actions by the Spanish government to deny port access to certain U.S. ships could “strain” U.S. trade ties between the two countries, Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis Sola warned in a Dec. 19 statement. He said he’s concerned Spain's actions could threaten U.S. critical supply chains and that he supports the FMC’s ongoing investigation of the matter.

A report released by outgoing Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel (see 2412130068) calls on the FMC to create a new Maritime Transportation Data System, which he said would allow the ocean shipping industry to better share and receive information on planned carrier voyages, cargo retrieval windows, real-time vessel transits and times of arrival, and more.

Baylink Shipping, a New York-based non-vessel operating common carrier, has voluntarily dismissed it complaint accusing ocean carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Services of unfairly charging more than $136,000 in fees for a cargo container that spent more than 20 months in detention, according to a notice the Federal Maritime Commission posted online Dec. 12. Baylink, which filed the complaint in November (see 2411260049), didn't state a reason for the dismissal.

The Federal Maritime Commission is ending one of its two investigations into new Canadian rules that were thought to have imposed unfair burdens on U.S. vessels, making the announcement after Canada granted exemptions for six ships and took other steps to “temporarily” resolve the issue. The FMC said it’s still moving forward with a separate, broader investigation into whether the Canadian regulations unfairly affect all U.S.-flagged Great Lakes vessels.

The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating reports that the Spanish government is denying port access to ships participating in the Maritime Security Program led by the U.S. Maritime Administration, it said in a notice.

The Alliance for Chemical Distribution (ACD) led a group of more than 20 shippers and trade associations in urging the Federal Maritime Commission Dec. 3 to implement the proposed Maritime Transportation Data System (MTDS) through a rulemaking.

California-based motor carrier Access One Transport and France-based ocean carrier CMA CGM have jointly asked the Federal Maritime Commission to approve a confidential agreement that would settle Access One’s complaint against CMA CGM over unfair detention and unfair chassis, storage, stop-off and redelivery fees, according to a notice FMC released Nov. 22. Access One filed its complaint in April (see 2405010027). CMA CGM answered the complaint in May by denying the allegations.

The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking public comments on a new vessel sharing agreement among Japanese carrier Ocean Network Express, South Korea-based Hyundai Merchant Marine and Taiwan-based Yang Ming Marine Transportation. Under the agreement, called the Premier Alliance Agreement, the carriers will share vessels; charter or exchange vessel space; work together on the “operational characteristics of vessels operated under the agreement”; and more, the FMC said. The proposed effective date of the agreement is Dec. 12. Comments are due Nov. 21.