The Federal Maritime Commission opened a proceeding against attorney Marcus Nussbaum pertaining to alleged professional misconduct, in which Nussbaum will have a chance to show cause why he should not be hit with a penalty or suspension of his ability to practice before the comission.

International shipping companies are being forced to "reroute their vessels" around the Cape of Good Hope amid a rise in attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group on ships transiting the Red Sea, "adding significant cost and weeks of delay to the delivery of goods," the U.S. and 12 other countries said in a joint statement Jan. 3 (see 2312200045). They said the Houthi attacks on ships are "jeopardizing the movement of critical food, fuel, and humanitarian assistance throughout the world."

The Border Trade Alliance requested a meeting with Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas to discuss the "quickly deteriorating situation at the Texas-Mexico border," according to a BTA letter dated Dec. 29. The business group called the Texas Department of Public Safety’s inspections of commercial vehicles entering the state from Mexico "duplicative and costly" due to CBP being assigned to the same task.

U.S. terminal operator SSA violated the Shipping Act by imposing “unjust and unreasonable” fees on Bal Container Line Co. Ltd., the Hong Kong carrier alleged in a complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission.

CBP resumed operation of the Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, rail crossings at 2 p.m. EST on Dec. 22 after it temporarily suspended operations earlier this month to help the U.S. Border Patrol address an influx of migrants (see 2312180023).

An administrative law judge this month denied Illinois importer MSRF’s complaint against South Korean cargo carrier HMM, saying the importer didn’t prove HMM violated the two companies’ service contract. The judge said none of MSRF’s claims before the Federal Maritime Commission were successful, partly because they were based on the terms of the original service contract, which had been amended multiple times mostly “for the benefit” of MSRF.

The Transportation Department this week unveiled a final rule that will place new financial security requirements on forwarders and freight brokers that fail to pay for services provided by a motor carrier. The new measures, first released as a proposed rule in January by the agency’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, are meant to address freight brokers and forwarders that purposely default on payments, triggering what can be a “costly and time consuming” process in a claims court that “generally results in motor carrier claims being paid pro rata.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety is "at this time" conducting "enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections at the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso, Tornillo Port of Entry (POE) in El Paso County, Ysleta-Zaragoza Bridge in El Paso and the Colombia Bridge in Laredo, as those vehicles cross into Texas, theTexas DPS said in an emailed statement on Oct. 13.

CBP's Office of Field Operations resumed railway bridge operations at the Port of Eagle Pass, the agency said in a news release Sept. 23. The reopening comes three days after CBP suspended railroad operations at Eagle Pass on Sept. 20 (see 2309210005) because of an influx of migrants at that port of entry.

Texas Department of Public Safety inspections are causing delays at the ports of Eagle Pass and El Paso/Ysleta Bridge, but Southern border ports remain open for commercial processing despite an influx of migrants (see 2109200028), with the exception of rail at Eagle Pass, according to an email from a CBP official sent out by the Laredo Licensed U.S. Customs Broker Association.