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FMC plans to strike off names of boxships on 'controlled carrier' list

SEVERAL container carriers no longer majority owned or fully controlled by foreign governments, or no longer have business in the US trades, are to be removed by the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) from its so-called "controlled carrier" list.

American President Lines, Ltd and APL Co Pte will be removed from the list, because they are now owned by privately held French carrier CMA CGM and the Singapore government is no longer a majority owner.

Similarly, United Arab Shipping Co Ltd is being removed from the list, because it is now owned by German company Hapag-Lloyd and a state entity no longer has a majority ownership in the carrier, according to American Shipper.

Hainan P O Shipping Co Ltd of China will also be removed from the list, since it no longer operates in the US-foreign trades, the FMC said.

However, since state-owned China Shipping was integrated into Cosco Container Lines Co Ltd, also owned by the Chinese government, and renamed Cosco Shipping Lines Co Ltd, the combined entity remains on the controlled carrier list. The second ocean carrier to remain on the list is CNAN Nord SPA of Algeria.

The FMC is charged with monitoring foreign government control of ocean shipping lines, and maintains the controlled carrier list, which it periodically updates as circumstances warrant. Under the Shipping Act, the commission "at any time after notice and opportunity for a hearing, may prohibit the publication or use of a rate, charge, classification, rule, or regulation that a controlled carrier has failed to demonstrate is just or reasonable."

The controlled carrier rules were developed by Congress nearly 40 years ago to isolate and regulate the activity of the Soviet Bloc's ocean carriers during the Cold War. The rules have been changed over the years, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. In 2002, 13 foreign carriers were on the FMC's controlled carrier list.