FMC Approves Settlement Between Hapag Lloyd, Rahal International

The Federal Maritime Commission approved a settlement between Rahal International and Hapag-Lloyd and dismissed the complaint between both parties. The settlement, approved on March 15, comes after Rahal accused Hapag-Lloyd in June of failing to establish adequate facilities to return empty containers to the Port of New York and New Jersey and unfairly charging detention and demurrage (see 2307050034).

The FMC also dismissed Hapag-Lloyd's third-party complaint against three marine terminal operators: Maher Terminals, GCT New York and GCT Bayonne. Hapag-Lloyd filed that third-party complaint in September, saying Rahal International's complaint should have been addressed to those marine terminal operators.

The settlement, which was kept confidential, would "resolve the entire proceeding before" the FMC, the commission said. Hapag-Lloyd declined to comment. GCT, Maher Terminals and Rahal International didn't respond to our request for comment.