According to Alphaliner, The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) fined Hapag-Lloyd $822,220 in penalties after ruling that the carrier had deliberately rigged D&D charges.
The first D&D ruling against a shipping line in the height of COVID, the FMC found that the German carrier had committed 14 US Shipping Act violations after charging on 11 FMC-controlled containers California ground transportation and storage company Golden State Logistics (GSL). Hapag-Lloyd had previously argued that the FMC did not have jurisdiction over the case, reports Alphaliner.
According to the FMC, Hapag-Lloyd collected $10,135 in punitive damages from D&D even though GSL was prevented from returning those containers. The FMC claimed that the carrier was familiar with an interpretive rule published by the Commission in May 2020 that exempted D&D penalties in such situations, but had collected the fares anyway, states the Alphaliner.
Finally mentions that the Biden administration has pledged to prosecute and punish uncompetitive behavior in the packaging industry, going so far as to mention the push in the president’s State of the Union address in March.
Source: Alphaliner
