The newly appointed leader of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) in the United States, Laura DiBella, plans to focus on geopolitical risks affecting shipping.
The Wall Street Journal reported that DiBella intends to focus the government agency’s resources of just over 100 staff and a US$40 million budget agency on global maritime risks to American importers and exporters. Recent FMC activities overseas have included investigations into risks at maritime chokepoints, such as the Malacca Strait near Singapore, and foreign-flagging practices that lower standards for ship maintenance and crews. “These investigations I think are just the beginning of really where we can take the agency,” said DiBella. “We are for the U.S. shipper no matter where the U.S. shipper is in the world.”
The pivot to geopolitical risks marks a change for an agency that has traditionally looked at commercial issues for American shippers, from access to space on containerships to fees that carriers charge for freight delays and the availability of truck trailers to move containers to and from ports.