Major steamship lines and express couriers suspended Russia service in recent days in response to the war in Ukraine. Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM announced March 1 they are suspending bookings to and from all Russian ports, following Hapag Lloyd’s similar announcement Feb. 24 and Ocean Network Express’ partial suspension Feb. 28. UPS confirmed a total stop in service March 1, and FedEx on Feb. 28 stopped inbound service to Russia.

Global shipper Maersk says it is "monitoring and preparing to comply with the ever-evolving sanctions and restrictions imposed against Russia while we safeguard our operations and our people in consideration of the constant developing situation." The company said Feb. 28 it may suspend bookings, both on ocean and inland, to and from Russia. "For cargo already on the water we will do our utmost to deliver it to its intended destination," it said. "We have a sharp focus on safeguarding reefer containers and keeping cold chain operations as stable as possible, as the commodities include important goods such as groceries and pharmaceuticals. We are doing everything possible to prevent risk to the above cargo and in turn risk to the end-users in need of these commodities. It’s also worth noting that air space is also gradually being restricted and our air services will be impacted," the company said.

The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced Feb. 18. The ports originally planned to begin imposing the fee Nov. 15 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until Feb. 25.

The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking additional comments on a petition filed by the Lake Carriers’ Association, which said the Canadian government is imposing “unfavorable” conditions on U.S.-Canada shipping and trade. The FMC initially requested comments after receiving the association’s petition in 2020 but announced a new comment period this week because of recent “developments which impact the Commission’s consideration” of the petition. Comments are due March 7.

The House of Representatives on Dec. 8 passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act 364-60, though the text of the bill changed from its introduction in August. The bill prohibits ocean carriers from unreasonably reducing "shipper accessibility to equipment necessary for the loading or unloading of cargo," and tells them they must furnish containers needed and allocate "vessel space accommodations, in consideration of reasonably foreseeable import and export demands." They cannot "unreasonably decline export cargo bookings if such cargo can be loaded safely and timely, as determined by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and carried on a vessel scheduled for the immediate destination of such cargo."

The Federal Maritime Commission met virtually with the European Union and China this week to discuss competition issues affecting the shipping industry, including disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials discussed bottlenecks in the ocean-linked supply chain, how they each have responded to those challenges and “possible actions” to help the shipping industry. “Today’s session of the Global Regulatory Summit provided key competition authorities responsible for the oversight of the container shipping industry the opportunity to share information about what their respective monitoring and enforcement regimes are observing in the marketplace and compare conclusions about carrier behavior,” FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said.

The Federal Maritime Commission will begin issuing information demand orders to ocean carriers and terminal operators to determine if they are violating detention and demurrage practices, the FMC said Feb. 17. The orders will be sent to ocean carriers operating in an alliance and calling at the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach or the Port of New York and New Jersey, and will require them to provide information on how they impose detention and demurrage charges, and their policies related to container returns and container availability for exporters (see 2012090009), the commission said.

Detention and demurrage disruptions are causing devastating damage to U.S. intermodal carriers and are placing large burdens on the shipping and transportation industry, the Harbor Trucking Association said in a new report. The association, which represents U.S. drayage carriers serving West Coast ports, and TradeLanes, a technology company focused on streamlining global commodity trade, surveyed HTA members and found that more than half reported critical negative effects on their business from the detention and demurrage costs. Detention and demurrage is common in the industry as well, with 64% of respondents saying that they incur them on more than 15% of their containers with the average price around $200 per container. Once the charges are levied, governmental relief is rarely given, with 80% of respondents saying they got charges reduced 0-25% of the time. The charges cost more than money, evidenced by the majority of respondents saying the invoices take at least 45 minutes to complete.

CMA CGM, American President Lines, APL, and ANL Singapore are asking the Federal Maritime Commission for permission to retroactively apply service contract rates and terms to shipments received on or after Sept. 27 for a period of 60 days (see 2010090022). Their petition also is asking for the ability to retroactively apply tariff rates communicated to its customers but that have not been published because of “major system impacts due to the recent cyber-attack.” The FMC is asking for public comments on this request through Oct. 15.

The Federal Aviation Administration on April 15 issued recommendations for air carriers transporting cargo in passenger aircraft. While current regulations allow transportation of cargo in passenger cabins, it is “an extraordinary situation, however” for the “entire passenger cabin to be loaded with cargo,” the FAA said. The safety alert includes recommendations for both putting cargo in passenger seats, and for on the floor of the passenger cabin with the passenger seats removed.