The Federal Maritime Commission will host a public hearing Feb. 7 to look at how conditions in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are "impacting commercial shipping and global supply chains," the commission said Jan. 12. The FMC said the hearing will allow the shipping industry to share with the commission "how operations have been disrupted by attacks on commercial shipping emanating" from Houthi rebels in Yemen (see 2312200045).

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.