MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has been fined US$22.67 million in civil penalties for multiple Shipping Act violations, reports Fort Lauderdale's Maritime Executive.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC)said the fines stem from investigations by its Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations, and Compliance, which began in August 2023. Notices were filed earlier this month and upheld or revised in three cases involving fees charged to shippers.

The largest penalty, US$13.145 million, was tied to overcharging demurrage and detention fees on non-operational reefers throughout 2021. The FMC ruled the practice was "unreasonable" and not a billing error, with customers overcharged in about 23 per cent of related bills.

A second violation involved MSC's failure to publish tariffs for non-operational reefers between 2021 and 2023. The FMC amended findings to call the omission "knowing and willful violations" from March 2022, imposing $9.46 million in penalties.

A third violation, from 2018 to 2020, related to billing customs agents as "notify parties" for late fees under the merchant clause in bills of lading. The FMC upheld penalties of $65,000.

The Commission said it has seen a sharp rise in complex cases linked to pandemic-era supply chain disruption. To manage the caseload, two additional Administrative Law Judges, Jamie Mendelson and Debra Tesh, have been temporarily detailed from the US Department of Health and Human Services through September 2026.