Euromarket Designs, Inc., the parent company of Crate & Barrel, and Nielsen & Bainbridge, LLC, formerly operating as NBG Home, filed their respective complaints on December 31, 2024, and January 8, 2025. Both companies allege violations of the Shipping Act of 1984, including claims that carriers systematically breached service commitments, coerced shippers into paying additional surcharges, and assessed unreasonable demurrage and detention fees.
Key allegations against carriers
Named respondents include prominent global carriers such as MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Maersk, CMA CGM, Ocean Network Express, Evergreen entities, COSCO, OOCL, Yang Ming, and Italia Marittima.
Euromarket’s complaint states that the carriers “failed to meet their service commitments, including the provision of adequate space and equipment as required by their contracts.” It alleges that carriers “coerced shippers to pay extracontractual surcharges prior to fulfilling contractual obligations,” adding that such actions resulted in the company incurring $30 million in additional costs.
Nielsen & Bainbridge’s complaint also highlights the financial strain placed on shippers, describing the carriers’ actions as a “systematic disregard for their obligations under service contracts” and accusing them of assessing demurrage and detention charges “under circumstances beyond the control of the complainant.”
Broader industry scrutiny
These complaints are part of a growing wave of allegations against ocean carriers stemming from their pandemic-era practices. Since 2020, carriers have faced significant criticism for leveraging supply chain disruptions to raise freight rates.
In 2023, the FMC fined Ocean Network Express $1.7 million for improperly charging demurrage and detention fees. Additionally, complaints filed by other financially troubled companies, including Bed Bath & Beyond, alleged similar abuses of market power.
The FMC has required respondents to file answers to these complaints within 25 days. The proceedings are expected to examine whether the carriers violated sections of the Shipping Act, including 46 U.S.C. 41102(c), 41104(a)(2), and 41104(a)(10).
“These practices,” one complaint asserts, “undermine the integrity of service contracts and impose undue financial burdens on importers, many of whom were already grappling with pandemic-related disruptions.”