Two major U.S. importers have filed claims with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), alleging profiteering by ocean carriers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Euromarket Designs — the parent company for home goods retailer Crate & Barrel — filed a claim December 31 with the FMC, accusing 10 ocean carriers of using the pandemic to engage in a coordinated effort to overcharge shippers by millions of dollars.
The carriers named in the company’s claim include CMA CGM, Maersk, Evergreen, Apex Maritime, China United, HMM, Wan Hai, and Ocean Network Express, with Crate and Barrel alleging that it ended up paying $30 million more than it would have had carriers honored their service commitments under their respective contracts. The company also accused carriers of coordinating efforts in order to artificially restrict capacity to avoid taking business from each other and keep freight rates high.
“As the pandemic disruptions continued to reverberate through the supply chain, (ocean carriers) operated in parallel, assessing increasing premium prices and surcharges, and failing to meet their contractual commitments to force their customers onto the much more lucrative spot market,” the claim reads.
Read More: Flurry of FMC Complaints Reveals Widespread Accusations of Ocean Carrier Profiteering
Retailer NBG Home — which declared bankruptcy in 2023 — filed a virtually identical claim, also on December 31, naming Evergreen, Italia Marittima, Ocean Network Express, OOCL, and Yang Ming. Carriers have also faced accusations of profiteering off the pandemic for years, including a yet-to-be-settled FMC claim filed against Taiwanese container line Yang Ming by bankrupt retailer Bed Bath & Beyond in 2023, as well as a separate probe from the FMC in that same year, where federal regulators eventually fined Ocean Network Express $1.7 million for overcharging shippers for demurrage and detention (D&D) fees.
The bulk of FMC complaints against carriers in the years following the pandemic have centered around allegations of unfair D&D fees. Carriers have repeatedly denied those assertions, claiming that the crisis had them facing unprecedented surges in demand that challenged their vessel capacity.
