The US government has appointed the recently appointed Commissioner Laura DiBella as the new Chair of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC). The decision was made by President Donald Trump.
This means that the leadership position of the influential maritime authority has been filled after it had been vacant since June. DiBella’s term of office runs until June 30, 2028, after the previous chairman Louis Sola resigned from office on June 30 for unspecified reasons. In a farewell letter, he described chairing the Commission as “the honor of my life”.
Previous Sola was only in office for a short time
Sola was nominated as Commissioner by Trump in 2018 and unanimously confirmed by the US Senate. He took office with the aim of strengthening US competitiveness, protecting ports and supply chains from foreign influence and establishing binding accountability mechanisms in the global shipping system. The Miami-based lawyer was previously a member of the Florida Board of Pilot Commissioners. There he was responsible for the licensing and regulation of port pilots and was involved in investigations into maritime accidents.
DiBella was previously Secretary of Commerce for the State of Florida and the first woman to hold this position. In this role, she was responsible for securing and developing Florida’s economy, which is worth around 1.5 trillion dollars. Most recently, she was a government affairs consultant at the law firm Adams and Reese LLP. Previous positions include senior roles at FloridaCommerce, Enterprise Florida and the Florida Opportunity Fund, Florida’s state venture capital fund. DiBella was also the first full-time executive director of the Florida Harbor Pilots Association.
Following her appointment, DiBella said she looks forward to leading the FMC team in implementing the policy mission to “restore U.S. maritime dominance.”
The appointment comes at a time of expanded responsibilities for the agency. The US Congress extended the FMC’s mandate in 2022 following numerous complaints about the business practices of large shipping companies during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, the Commission has had additional powers to monitor supply chains and enforce fair competition in international maritime transport.
FMC recently fined MSC for violations of the Shipping Act
The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has imposed a civil fine totaling $22.67 million on the world’s largest shipping company, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), for multiple violations of the Shipping Act . The penalties include improper billing of demurrage and detention charges to customs brokers between 2018 and 2020 ($65,000), inadequately explained charges for non-operating reefers (NORs) between 2021 and 2023, which were found to be knowing and willful as of March 2022 ($9.46 million), and systematic overcharges to customs brokers ($9.46 million). According to the FMC, around 23% of the billings resulted in excessive claims, which the authority deemed to be an inappropriate business practice and penalized with a further $13.145 million. The penalties will not be paid to the FMC, but to the general budget of the US Treasury Department.
