02/09/2022
A New York shipper is legally pursuing Maersk for $180m, claiming the carrier failed to meet contractual obligations during the pandemic.
U Shippers Group is effectively a shipper association that entered into a contract with Maersk in June 2020, the carrier expected to provide space for U Shippers’ members.
However, U Shippers claims Maersk failed to provide the contracted space, preferring to sell its services to spot cargo customers instead.
That meant U Shippers members had to meet their shipping requirements through the spot market too, raising their costs substantially in an inflated market.
“The service contract obligated Maersk to pay U Shippers a ‘volume incentive program(VIP)’ based upon the number of containers shipped by U Shippers. Maersk’s unreasonable practices, in failing to provide allocated space, reduced the amount of VIP payments which U Shippers was entitled to receive under the service contract,” says the deposition to the US Federal Maritime Commission.
U Shippers also alleges Maersk entered into a service contract with another shipping association, which it then offered space contractually expected to go U Shippers’ members.
The deposition adds: “As a result of the above actions and Shipping Act violations by Maersk, U Shippers and its members have been damaged monetarily, in the form of lost fees and higher shipping costs from alternative carriers; which amounts are believed to be in excess of $180 million dollars, currently accruing and to be further demonstrated in this proceeding.”
The FMC said the initial decision in this case would be given by 30 August next year, while the final decision will be offered more than six months later.
作者：尼克·萨维德斯2022年9月2日
一家纽约托运人正以1.8亿美元的价格向马士基提起诉讼，声称马士基在疫情期间未能履行合同义务。
U Shippers集团实际上是一个托运人协会，于2020年6月与马士基签订了合同，预计承运人将为U shipper的成员提供空间。
然而，美国托运人声称，马士基没有提供合同规定的舱位，而是宁愿将其服务出售给现货客户。
这意味着美国托运人成员也必须通过现货市场满足其运输要求，从而在通胀市场中大幅提高了成本。
“服务合同规定马士基有义务根据U托运人装运的集装箱数量向U托运人支付‘数量奖励计划（VIP）’。马士基的不合理做法，未能提供分配的空间，减少了U托运人根据服务合同有权获得的VIP付款金额，”美国联邦海事委员会的证词说。
U托运人还声称，马士基与另一个航运协会签订了服务合同，该协会随后根据合同提供了预计将由U托运人成员提供的舱位。
证词补充说：“由于马士基的上述行动和违反《航运法》，美国托运人及其成员受到了金钱上的损害，表现为其他承运人的费用损失和更高的运输成本；据信，这些金额超过1.8亿美元，目前正在累积，并将在本诉讼中进一步证明。”
FMC表示，将在明年8月30日之前做出该案的初步决定，而最终决定将在六个多月后做出。