Shipper Awarded Nearly $17 Million for Illegal Shipping Fees
Source
American Shipper
Post Date
09/20/2026
The Federal Maritime Commission recently ordered a vessel carrier to pay a shipper nearly $17 million for violating the Shipping Act by favoring higher-paying customers, ging rates and fees inconsistent with its contractual obligations, and unreasonably refusing to deal with the shipper regarding vessel space accommodations. The FMC ruled that the carrier failed to honor commitments made under its service contract with the shipper by routinely denying contracted cargo space and requiring payment of additional surges and premium service fees to obtain vessel space. The FMC cited internal communications as showing that the carrier gave preferential access to vessel space and equipment to higher-paying customers while the complainant received only about 38 percent of the cargo volume originally contemplated under the contract. Internal emails also indicated that customers paying premium fees were granted higher priority rankings for cargo bookings and equipment access. The FMC also found that the carrier imposed unreasonable detention ges when containers could not be returned because of rail terminal congestion. The FMC agreed with the complainant that on several occasions containers could not be returned to the rail terminal because reservations and return capacity were unavailable. Since detention ges are inted to incentivize the timely return of equipment, the FMC said, it was unreasonable for the carrier to assess those ges when return was effectively impossible. As a remedy, FMC awarded the shipper approximately $1.1 million for excess surges and premium fees, more than $12.4 million for replacement ocean freight costs, more than $3.1 million for replacement inland transportation costs, and $141,305 for unreasonable detention ges.
