DC Circuit Nixes Rule on Detention, Demurrage Container Billing

A federal regulation limiting which parties can be charged fees when a shipping container takes up space for too long in a marine terminal was tossed Tuesday by the DC Circuit.

The Federal Maritime Commission failed to adequately explain why the regulation excluded entities in a contractual relationship with the billing party, while “seemingly including others who are not,” Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote in an opinion for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

The commission issued a final rule last year that said demurrage and detention charges could only be levied against entities who are in ...