United Nations Sends First Aid Convoy to Syria Following Deadly Earthquake, MSC Must Answer to FMC Over Congestion Surcharges, Cargo Thefts Spiked in 2022 According to Recent Data.

Ocean

MSC must answer to FMC over congestion surcharges. The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is sorting through cases brought by irate shippers against global liners in recent months, including a few involving Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC). Splash247 reports that the FMC is “questioning a congestion fee MSC charged SOFi Paper Products in a first case of its kind since the passing last year of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA).” MSC has until the end of February to explain why it should not pay a refund to SOFi. The FMC said MSC never provided “justification” to SOFi stemming from a $1,000 “congestion surcharge” levied against SOFi in July 2022.

Ports

February imports forecasted to be lowest in three years. A new forecast from the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts that import cargo volume at the U.S.’s major container ports will drop to its lowest level in three years during February. The projection is now for a total of 8.9 million TEU during the first five months of the year, down 21 percent from the record import volumes for the first five months of 2022.

Trucking

BP backpedals plans to cut emissions after record profits. BP has reported record annual profits of $27.7bn in 2022 as it scaled back plans to reduce the amount of oil and gas it produces by 2030. BP was one of the first oil and gas companies to announce intentions to cut emissions to net zero by 2050 and had previously said that emissions would be 35-40% lower by the end of this decade. However, this week the company said it would now be looking at a 20-30% cut, saying it “needed to keep investing in oil and gas to meet current demands,” according to BBC.

Rail

CSX, NS, UP, CN renew joint petition to STB over arbitration program. Railroads CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), Union Pacific (UP) and the U.S. operating subsidiaries of CN renewed their request that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) stay its requirement that the Class I railroads commit to a new arbitration program for small rate disputes on February 3, according to Railway Age. The STB denied the joint carriers’ first stay request, filed Dec. 29, 2022, in January. The moves stem from STB’s adoption of two final rules in December that establish new “rate reasonableness procedures” that it said provide “two streamlined approaches for shippers and railroads to resolve smaller rate disputes.”

Air

Slow demand leads Amazon to cut back air cargo services. Amazon is scaling back on flights this year as a result of lower demand and slower economic growth, according to Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), which runs a significant portion of Amazon’s air cargo fleet. “Both companies are adjusting their ground and air distribution and fulfillment networks in the United States to conform to reduced U.S. economic growth and consumer spending levels in the first half of 2023,” ATSG said.

International

United Nations sends first aid convoy to Syria following deadly earthquake. Following the massive earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria earlier this week killing over 19,000 people, the United Nations has sent its first aid convoy into Syria today. Efforts to bring aid and rescue personnel are being slowed as a result of truck shortages, blocked roads and other logistical hurdles, according to the New York Times.

You can deliver much needed assistance by contributing aid to help victims of the earthquake. We include three relief fund options below:

• Americares
• Direct Relief
• Project HOPE

Iskenderun Port decimated by earthquake. Days after the massive earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, Iskenderun Port continues to blaze. Earlier this week, Turkey’s airforce was deployed to try and put out the fire at the decimated container terminal, but the fire was ongoing as of yesterday. Severe structural damage at the port is expected to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claims and repairs. According to Splash247, liners are rerouting ships to alternative ports in the eastern Mediterranean as Iskenderun is expected to be out of commission for months.

Other

Cargo thefts spiked in 2022 according to recent data. According to data from CargoNet, cargo thefts surged at the tail end of 2022, pushing the yearly total to above an estimated $223 million worth of goods stolen across Canada and the U.S. CargoNet recorded 1,778 “supply chain risk incidents” in Canada and the U.S. in 2022, a 15% jump compared to 2021. “The No. 1 commodity [for cargo theft] was household goods for all of 2022, electronics was No. 2, and then food and beverage commodities were No. 3,” Scott Cornell, transportation lead and crime and theft specialist at Travelers, said to FreightWaves.