July 11, 2025 • 33 mins
🚢 By Land and By Sea Podcast – an attorney breaking down the week in supply chain
🎙️ Captain’s Log – “Trade Turbulence and Tech Advances”
🗓️ Week of July 11, 2025
The Maritime Professor® presents By Land and By Sea Podcast – an attorney breaking down the week in supply chain
with Lauren Beagen (Founder of The Maritime Professor® and Squall Strategies®)
This week, I’m unpacking:
🔹 Chinese container ships get permission to sail Russia’s Arctic Northern Sea Route—an emerging maritime chokepoint with global supply chain impacts
🔹 China merges CSSC and CSIC to create the world’s largest shipbuilder amid shifting global demand and trade tensions
🔹 The White House extends reciprocal tariffs on imports from multiple countries through August 1, 2025
🔹 FMC reorganizes competition staff to enhance enforcement of fair trade practices in ocean shipping
🔹 US Bank completes first trade finance transaction using electronic Bills of Lading—a key step toward digital maritime transformation
🔹 Are we missing executive leadership in maritime? A look at recent leadership gaps, NSC shakeups, and the need for action
🎧 Tune in to hear the full breakdown in plain language: www.TheMaritimeProfessor.com/podcast
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⚠️ This content is for educational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I got soul coming through.
Don't stop in the beat.
And on top of the world,catwalk to the beat when you see
(00:31):
me coming, mixing blue.
Everywhere I go, I'm in thespotlight.
This is a good life.
I'm living bold.
This is what good night.
I'm living bold.
This is what it looks like.
I'm a ticket out of the world.
(00:59):
Are electronic bills of ladingofficially taking off in the US?
We'll see.
And the FMC reshuffled itscompetition team.
Did you miss that?
There's a lot happening thatpotentially could reshape
maritime trade.
Stick around to find out whatall this means for you and for
the future of shipping.
Hi, welcome back to by Land andby Sea, an attorney breaking
(01:20):
down the weakened supply chainpresented by the maritime
professor.
Me, I'm Lauren Began, formerFMC International Affairs
Attorney, founder of theMaritime Professor and Skoll
Strategies.
By Landed by Sea is yourfriendly guide to the regulatory
twists and turn of global oceanshipping and me, well, I'm your
favorite maritime attorneymaking sense of it all.
So you don't have to.
(01:41):
As always, the guidance isgeneral and for educational
purposes only.
It should not be construed tobe legal advice and there's no
attorney-client privilegecreated by this video or this
podcast.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
This is plain language,maritime created for anyone not
just lawyers or industryinsiders can understand what's
happening in the world ofshipping.
(02:01):
Let's dive into this week'sepisode because, as you know,
ocean shipping moves the world.
All right.
Story number one Chinesecontainer ships get permission
to sail Russia's Arctic NorthernSea Route.
So the Russian government thisweek recently allowed Chinese
container vessels to use theNorthern Sea Route.
This cuts shipping time betweenAsia and Europe by navigating
(02:23):
along Russia's Arctic coast.
So I bring this up becausewe've recently talked about the
Northern Sea Route when we weretalking about the Federal
Maritime Commissioninvestigating maritime choke
points.
That's where shipping can getbottlenecked, as the FMC was
looking into.
This Arctic Northern Sea Routeis one of those choke points
(02:44):
with unique challenges iceconditions, limited ports and
this is interesting andsignificant because it signals
that this shipping route thatwas otherwise very Arctic might
be a viable option forcommercial container vessels to
use more frequently.
If so, and if more ships aregoing to be taking this route,
(03:06):
it could change supply chaintiming and costs.
It also might increase some ofthe challenges, some of the
possibilities, for it clearlywas designated in the
investigation as a bottleneck,so there might be some other
things that we're watching hereand I think something that the
FMC perhaps already knew thatthis area, which is why it was
(03:28):
listed, could be a newer, moreemerging area for container
shipping routes.
So that was reported fromG-Captain and a really
interesting story.
Story number two this was alsobrought to us by G-Captain and
also was I'll just jump into it.
(03:48):
So China state-ownedshipbuilding titan, cssc and
CSIC have merged to create theworld's largest shipbuilding
company.
So this is a move thatconsolidates their strengths and
streamlines resources amid somechallenging global market
changes that have been happeningrecently.
So by no means is China beenknocked off of its perch of the
(04:11):
number one shipbuilding countryin the world.
But look, this merger isn'tjust about scale.
It might also be I guess I'mkind of reading it to
potentially be a response towhat's being reported recently
as potentially declining globaldemand for new ships out of
China.
Right, there might beincreasing production costs
(04:32):
generally, but it's thisgeopolitical tensions and some
of the trade tensions that mighthave necessitated.
Perhaps I don't know Right, Imight be kind of reading into
that that might havenecessitated.
Perhaps, I don't know right, Imight be kind of reading into
that, but it's interesting thatshortly after the USTR port fees
proposal, designed toincentivize shipping on
(04:53):
non-Chinese vessels non-operatedor built Chinese vessels and
then subsequent reports comingout saying that the order book
has been significantly or atleast increasingly reducing on
Chinese orders, ships on orderout of China, that perhaps this
(05:14):
is all connected right.
I'm kind of just.
These are my opinions and I'mjust trying to connect some dots
that I'm seeing here.
Maybe has nothing to do with it, maybe this was always going to
be a combination of these twocompanies, but I can't help but
wonder if that threat of USTRport fees that we're still
expecting to, I think, hit inOctober, if the threat of these
(05:36):
USTR port fees on China builtinteroperated vessels and the
subsequent decline has beenreported in ship orders from
these Chinese shipbuilders,maybe it's putting pressure here
on these two companies andmaybe I don't know right.
This is just kind of I don'tknow, just trying to put things
together, but perhaps thismerger might be a result of that
(05:57):
.
It doesn't say that for sure.
What is being announced is thatthis consolidation has been
approved and will be goingforward, so it could lead to
shifts in ship availability,pricing globally, potentially
affecting freight costs andvessel deployment decisions.
Anytime there's kind ofconsolidation potentially could
(06:18):
be a reduction in competition.
But also, if all of theshipbuilding efforts that are
happening on the US side come tofull fruition right, it's not
going to happen next year, butit might happen in the sooner
rather than later time period,which who knows what that is,
but it might happen soonerrather than later.
And if that's true then there'sgoing to be more global
competition and perhaps that'swhat's being positioned here, so
(06:40):
that China's shipbuilding is ina better overall business
standpoint to compete againstnewer shipbuilding entities like
perhaps the United States inyears to come We'll see.
But I wanted to flag thisbecause obviously the story of
the merger reflects acombination of very important,
very large, very significantshipbuilding efforts out of
(07:03):
China.
But maybe there might be someother connections here.
So I wanted to flag that foryour attention.
Story number three the WhiteHouse.
You probably already heardabout this.
White House extends reciprocaltariffs through August 1st.
The White House issued anexecutive order.
I didn't realize it wasactually came through in an
executive order, but it's calledextending the modification on
(07:24):
the reciprocal tariff rates.
So these are those IEEP tariffs.
The tariffs were originallyimplemented as a way to kind of
rebalance US trade deficits withhow they were being positioned
and served as a negotiating toolis what we've been seeing most
recently to influence tradedeals and terms internationally.
So why is this important?
Why does this matter for thelisteners here?
(07:46):
For importers, this extensionmeans that additional tariff
costs will remain in effect fora variety of goods from multiple
countries, not just China,continuing to impact supply
chain budgets, pricing andsourcing strategies.
Strategically, these tariffsrepresent an ongoing effort it
seems right by theadministration to reshape global
trade relationships and itseems to be having that effect,
and in turn, you could argueright that it's creating trading
(08:11):
practices that maybe createmore of a I want to say fair,
but I think it's more of arebalance is actually where I
want to say what I want to gowith that more of a rebalance of
economic leverage and the tradeimbalance that we've seen for
years.
As a United States country, webring in much more than we
(08:34):
export, as kind of a generalstatement.
I think that's what some ofthis is getting at.
So, for carriers and logisticsproviders, continued tariff
influence, shipping volumes andtrade patterns across multiple
trade lanes are going to beobviously affecting demand.
We've already seen some routingchanging for Asia West Coast.
If you're watching some of thedifferent routes, the ocean
carriers in their liner serviceand their regularly scheduled
(08:56):
service, and that's, if youweren't aware, that's kind of
what containerized shipping.
That's why the FMC regulatescontainerized shipping, because
it's that liner service, thatregularly scheduled service that
the FMC oversees, and so youcan watch.
You can go onto the websites ofsome of these ocean carriers
and see They'll makeannouncements on vessel schedule
or vessel route changes, andsometimes you can see that
(09:20):
there's trends that happen fromdifferent things happening with
the tariffs, and so this is noexception to that.
Obviously, businesses continueto prepare for ongoing
tariff-related expenses.
I think everybody's just tryingto figure it out as we go, but
it looks like maybe August 1stis going to be a date that holds
a little bit stronger than thisJuly 9th and previously the
(09:42):
April 9th.
We'll see.
I think that it's still tryingto create this larger
geopolitical context andnegotiation strategy, so I mean,
it's no help, but anything's atplay, right?
This is something that willcontinue to develop and we'll
just keep watching it as itrelates to ocean shipping, right
?
This is what I think, and I'vesaid this before.
I think what you can garnerfrom some of these trade deals,
(10:03):
though, is focus on thecommodities that are moving
around and some of thecommodities that are being
positioned in the trade deals,because that'll also help you
know what ports are going to bebusier than others, where
commodities traditionally comein, because sometimes the
commodities come in throughcertain ports, perhaps two or
three ports, instead of all ofthem.
(10:24):
Equally, because usuallythere's a little bit better
infrastructure for certaincommodities coming in.
They can flip it, they cantransload, they can do all these
things with the commodity basedthrough the infrastructure
that's close to that port.
So something to keep in mind asyou're watching these trade
deals come through.
Perhaps look at them a littlebit closely to see what
commodities and if it affectsyour area of the supply chain
(10:47):
world.
All right.
Story number four the FederalMaritime Commission, because
what is a by land, by seaepisode Without talking about
the FMC?
The FMC, actually, it happeneda while ago.
I just I guess I didn't noticeit.
They reorganized a little bitof what they were doing and they
actually created a competitionsection within the Office of the
(11:11):
General Counsel that brings ineconomists from BTA.
So that's the Bureau of TradeAnalysis.
So we previously had theGeneral Counsel, and a reorg is
not kind of a new thing.
The FMC.
Every once in a while, andusually with kind of new
chairmen it can happen, but justsometimes, to realign with the
mission and the work and therelevancy of some of the
(11:31):
activities that the FMC does andoverseas.
They realign a little bit, justmoving people around and
creating a new, perhapsorganizational chart.
But here we have what it lookslike to be a more of a focus on
competition by creating a combooffice.
Essentially is what it is.
Or I think bringing economistsover from BTA to work with the
lawyers in the Office of theGeneral Counsel into this
(11:54):
competition section.
I think it's cool.
I mean, I think that's what theentire agency does anyways.
But to then have this specificcompetition section, I think
really kind of roots it in theessence of what the FMC is for,
the mission of the FMC.
This new section bringstogether the agency's economic
(12:15):
and legal expertise in oneintegrated unit aiming to
strengthen oversight andenforcement of competition
issues, of competition issues.
The only caution worry that Ihave here is the general
counsel's office was alreadypretty lean.
The Bureau of Trade Analysiswas probably already pretty lean
.
The entire agency is definitelypretty lean, and what I mean by
(12:35):
that is they only have anywherebetween 115 to maybe even 140,
when they're kind of like maxcapacity people working there,
115 to 140 or 150.
I mean that's like a teeny,tiny company and they don't
really have many people workingthere.
So moving people around I meanthe general counsel's office
(12:56):
itself is usually like 10-ishpeople To now be moving some of
those attorneys off of generalGC work and into competitive
work.
Maybe it's just a reshifting ofthe manpower there.
But also I'm curious to see ifthat has affected it, because
obviously competition is wherethe FMC needs to remain focused.
(13:18):
That's kind of their mission,right.
They are essentially thecompetition authority, the
independent regulatory agency,but the competition authority
for ocean shipping for USinterests.
I mean, arguably it bringseconomists into the general
counsel's office, so it mightmean that economists can't be
doing law work, but it mightrelieve some of that because now
it's creating less of anadministrative burden.
(13:40):
I mean you're moving from, Imean, ninth floor to the 10th
floor.
I mean that's, that's how itactually works.
The FMC is two floors of abuilding and the economists are
down not all of them, but a lotof them are down on the ninth
floor and I think they'veactually moved things around.
But either way, perhaps havingthem kind of all in the same
area has made that easier sothey can say hey, what do you
think about this?
Yeah, that's what I think too,I don.
(14:01):
They are running so lean andthey are doing so much these
days that I always just get alittle bit nervous when I see
movement or repositioning or newauthorities or expansions of
authorities, because they reallyneed a bigger budget and more
people if they are going tocontinue to work at this higher
(14:24):
frequency that they've beendoing.
So we'll see, we'll see.
But I came across that FederalRegister notice and I thought
that that was interesting.
So I wanted to do this newlittle segment called Maritime
Minute.
Like I said, I'm kind of tryingout these new little segments,
but I wanted to do the MaritimeMinute, where we bring you what
you need to know in a minute orso.
(14:45):
So the Maritime Minute today isFMC agreement category.
So we've been talking a lotabout the order to show cause
issued by the FMC against theWorld Shipping Council.
But it's kind of garnered upsome questions about agreements
at the FMC generally.
So I put this in a LinkedInpost.
But when agreements are properlyfiled with the FMC, and I say
(15:06):
that because they have to gothrough certain qualifications
or certain categories of why andhow agreements are filed at the
FMC.
But when they are properlyfiled at the FMC they receive
limited antitrust immunity,meaning that conduct that might
otherwise be consideredmonopolistic is allowed because
(15:26):
the FMC has oversight over thatlimited antitrust immunity, that
agreement and also kind of thelaw's boundaries.
It has parameters over thatagreement.
So if an agreement's purpose oractivities fall outside the
FMC's regulatory scope, thatimmunity can be challenged and
revoked, meaning thoseactivities might not be legally
allowed to continue.
(15:47):
So what are the agreement types?
And I think we're probablyalready at a minute, so this
maybe is the maritime minutessection, but we have quite a few
different agreements and I justwanted to hit them quickly just
so that you had exposure tothem.
So we have the vessel sharingagreements.
We often talk about these intheir larger version they are
global vessel sharing agreementsor the alliances.
(16:07):
So this is where shipping linesshare vessel space on specific
trade lanes, with spaceallocated differently per port
or vessel sharing, but on aglobal scale.
And those are the alliances,covering multiple trade routes
under one agreement.
Space charter agreements arealso a thing.
That's where one carrierprovides vessel space to another
for compensation or serviceswithout rationalizing capacity.
(16:27):
We have rate discussionagreements, so allows carriers
or terminal operators to discussor agree on rates or charges,
binding or non-binding.
An example of this would beWest Coast of South America
discussion agreement.
So this is and these areactually taken right off of the
FMC's website.
So if you would like to diveinto any of these agreements,
feel free to jump over to theirwebsite under the agreements
(16:48):
category category and you'll seeexamples that you can go click
through.
Cooperative working agreement isthe one that has come recently
into attention with this orderto show cause.
So cooperative workingagreements establish exclusive
or cooperative workingrelationships not covered by
other specific agreements.
They're kind of a catch-all,which is why this is an
interesting one that the FMC hasdone the order to show cause
with the World Shipping Council.
(17:09):
We also have assessmentagreements providing collective
bargained fringe benefitobligations, often related to
labor agreements.
This was something when we weretalking about the ILA stuff I
was like, oh, I didn't realizethe ILA files it with the FMC.
Conference agreements.
Carriers agree to fix uniformtariff charges and conditions
for passengers or cargo onspecific routes.
(17:30):
These conference agreementsmostly circled out I think maybe
entirely circled out with OSRA1998.
Yes, that's right, there was anOSRA before 2022.
There was an OSRA 1998, whichwas a deregulatory effort, but
for the most part conferenceskind of went away and now we see
these global alliances as kindof what's come in current day.
We also have equipmentdiscretion agreements,
(17:51):
self-explanatory joint serviceagreements.
Carriers operate jointly undera single brand with independent
rates, tariffs and billing.
Joint venture agreements,maritime terminal facilities
agreements, maritime servicesagreements.
And that's the round out.
That's your maritime minutebrief-ish, clear and maritime.
Look, that's it for today.
If you liked this episode, besure to follow, subscribe and
(18:15):
leave a review.
We missed a section.
I can't believe it.
I'm going to see if I canactually pull it back up,
because we were talking aboute-bills of lading and for some
reason it didn't make it into myscript and so we are flying
free here.
I'm going to go try to pullthat section up from my notes,
(18:39):
because I'm not sure why itdidn't make it in here.
So let me get that.
And this is where live meetsrecorded.
This is where live meetsrecorded.
So the e-bill of lading is suchan interesting new development
and I wanted to make sure thatwe did not miss it.
(19:00):
Let me see.
Here comes my notes.
Dramatic pause, here we go.
Story number five.
So this is a story from the JOC.
This story was a fantasticstory, all but brief but, I
think, for the significance ofwhat's happening here.
(19:22):
So Eric Johnson from Journal ofCommerce actually wrote this
story and I'm going to quote himfrom the very beginning because
I think that he does a reallygood job kind of presenting what
happened here.
So US Bank has completed itsfirst trade finance transaction
using a digital ocean bill oflading.
Another small step toward theindustry's intent to transition
to 100% digital bill of ladingby 2030.
(19:44):
Disclosed by US Bank onThursday was facilitated by
electronic bills of ladingsoftware vendor WaveBL for a
US-based exporter usingMediterranean shipping company
MSC, which issued the EBL.
That's all a quote from Eric'sarticle.
So this milestone and I thinkthat it should be considered
such this milestone highlightsUS Bank's pilot program to adopt
(20:08):
electronic bills of lading forUS exporters.
It's a key move to modernizeglobal trade documentation.
This traditional paper bill oflading serves as proof of cargo
ownership, a receipt, a contract.
But it can be slow and thetraditional bill right, it's a
piece of paper.
Why does this matter?
The successful transaction isproof of concept that EBLs
(20:31):
electronic bills of lading canwork effectively in real world
trade finance.
It demonstrates howdigitization can speed up
processes, reduce fraud risk andenable faster access to
financing.
By proving this model, it helpsbuild confidence among
exporters, banks, carriers, inthis adoption of EBLs.
More broadly, electronic billsof lading are truly about to,
(20:55):
and currently transformingshipping by enabling these
faster financing, lower fraudrisk and improving supply chain
transparency.
This transaction marks apivotal step toward the maritime
industry's goal of full digitaltransformation by 2030, like I
said, and now it's happened.
Maritime industry's goal offull digital transformation by
2030, like I said, and now it'shappened.
Us banks have successfullycompleted the first trade
finance transaction using theCBL.
(21:15):
This isn't just talk or theoryanymore, and I should say in the
US right, this is somethingthat is important that this was
US bank in the US.
This milestone proves theindustry is moving from concept
to reality, ushering a new areaof faster, safer and more
efficient global shipping, and Iam so delighted to see it.
So, as part of our ongoingpolicy to port series right, we
(21:36):
have all these series.
Now.
Three questions AI edition thatyou might have about EBLs and
quick answers to help youunderstand the impact.
So, number one how will thetransition to electronic bills
of lading affect my currentworkflows?
Look, transitioning to EBLs canstreamline your workflows by
replacing paper with fastdigital documents.
Right, I mean it's basicallygoing from snail mail in the
(21:59):
mailbox at the end of yourdriveway to email, right?
Speeding approvals, reducingerrors, boosting overall
efficiency.
It's an opportunity tomodernize processes and improve
collaboration through somesystem updates and training may
be needed, but really there arestandards involved with EBLs.
That is going to make this alot faster than you might
otherwise think.
(22:19):
What regulatory hurdles affectEBLs?
Well, speaking of standards,the Digital Container Shipping
Association, dcsa, released areport on legal and regulatory
barriers.
So while they identified thatthere's still some barriers that
exist out there, one of themost important things in general
(22:42):
for EBLs, as just kind of ablanket statement, is that
express acceptance by countriesaround the world will help give
confidence to all parties thatan EBL holds the same legal
weight as a fiscal bill oflading, help give confidence to
all parties that an EBL holdsthe same legal weight as a
fiscal bills lading.
That is something that I wouldlove to see happen as just a
kind of if we're going to go forEBLs, we need to have these
express acceptance by countriesand whatever that form looks
like in adoption, but if we'regoing to go EBL, it needs to
(23:03):
have some sort of legalacceptance, right?
I guess I can't say it anyother way, but go check out
DCSA's report on legal andregulatory barriers.
It's really interesting.
It breaks it down country bycountry where they think that
there are really good advanceswhereas there's still some
barriers.
On EBL specifically and I sayspeaking of standards, digital
(23:25):
Container Shipping Associationalso has a whole bunch of
standards.
They are, I mean, I'll say it,the leading standard setting
body for global ocean shippingout there.
So go take a look at DCSAanyways, but go take a look at
that report.
So the last question how cansmaller exporters adopt EBLs
without high upfront costs?
Well, in this pilot, in thisexample, in this I shouldn't
(23:46):
even say example In thissuccessful initiative, wave BL
offers accessible cloud-basedplatform designed for businesses
.
Subscription models are often away of having exporters
adopting electronic bills oflading gradually and
cost-effective.
There are ways out there.
I encourage you to look up WaveBL.
(24:06):
I think that it's a fantasticcompany to see if you are
interested in getting into EBLand this isn't even sponsored by
Wave BL.
But I think Wave BL is a greatway to kind of make the first
step.
You know, kind of dip your toein, see what Wave BL is all
about, because they've done aproof of concept here.
(24:28):
So, story number six I can'tbelieve five and six got left
off my script, but here we go.
Story number six are we missingexecutive leadership in
maritime?
And this is kind of, I guess,an opinion piece here, which all
of it really is, but this ismore of a reflective opinion
piece from me.
Recently, dr Sal Mercogliano ofwhat's Going On With Shipping,
a friend of the show asked acritical question on his podcast
(24:50):
and I've been thinking about itand I think I tend to agree Are
we missing executive leadershipon a large scale in maritime
right now?
And I don't think that we are.
Well, let me tell you what Ithink about this.
Let me explain it.
So remember how maritime washighlighted as one of the top
(25:11):
five issues by thisadministration.
Right, it was specificallycalled out by President Trump in
his speech to Congress, in hisfinal speech, as his
speechwriters, signaling bigmomentum and focus on maritime
shipbuilding.
Right, we were talking about anoffice of shipbuilding.
We had so much initiative,inertia.
That happened during TPM inMarch.
(25:32):
It was so exciting and lately Idon't know.
Look, I don't know if it's asummertime slowdown or if it
really is a lack of breezefilling our sails, but something
feels like it's slowing downand I'm hoping that it's maybe
just a summertime slowdown.
I'm encouraged because nextweek there's kind of this
impromptu sale into the AmericanSchool Counselors Association.
(25:53):
It's an annual conference inLong Beach that's happening.
There are lots of maritimeinterests that are going to be
there in the expo section andthey're going to be expanding
exposure to a maybe unsuspectinggroup of school counselors who
maybe know not much aboutmaritime.
But by next week, by golly theywill and look, hopefully
they're going to be expandingexposure and attracting new
(26:15):
talent.
But we need I can't get, I justwant to get back to this
leadership thing.
We need leadership roles filledto truly capitalize on this
energy and to get us back oncourse.
Right, let's call it asummertime slowdown, let's get
back into it by the fall when wehave the Maritime Action Plan
due.
Maybe it's all just kind of inthe background now and
everybody's still working hard,but look, the FMC, the Chairman
(26:38):
Lusola, just departed, rightJune 30th.
The commission now has fiveseats three for the majority
party, two for the minorityparty.
That's how it normally works.
But currently we only have onein the majority party seat,
that's Commissioner Rebecca Dye,and we have two Democrats.
So what otherwise would bethree Republicans, two Democrats
(27:00):
in a Republican presidency?
We have one Republican and twoDemocrats.
Maffei and Vekic are fantasticcommissioners, but it leaves the
majority at a disadvantage andthe chairman position remains
unfilled.
I was so encouraged whenChairman Sola was named January
20th that we had FMC leadershipright off the bat.
(27:20):
I was hoping that with a Julyexcuse me flip of the calendar
we might have seen a chairmandie just to get things scooting,
so that we at least had if wewere going to have only one on
the majority side, at least wehad leadership clearly defined
there.
I mean, she is the onlyRepublican in the FMC right now,
(27:41):
so she kind of probably isunofficially the leader of
what's happening and theactivities and the initiatives
coming out of the FMC and kindof seeing through what SOLA had
started and all of them hadstarted.
But we need the leader there.
We need the leader.
And on the maritime side,maritime Administration, marad
(28:02):
right, we're still waiting forthe confirmation of Steve Carmel
from Maritime Limited.
This is something that SalMercogliano was really talking
about.
We have a deputy maritimeadministrator saying, yee, he's
acting in the role, greatprogress.
But the Maritime TransportationSystem National Advisory
Committee, mitsnac, hasn't yetfully been activated and these
(28:22):
members are ready and eager,almost as if saying put us in
coach.
And I mention MITSNAC becausewhen USTR was giving their
proposals on the port fees, theytalked a lot about having their
federal advisory committeeright by their side informing
their decisions, helping toguide them as they were creating
(28:44):
proposals for the port fees.
I think that the MITSNAC couldserve that purpose and hasn't
been fully activated yet.
And with the lack of some ofthese roles being filled in the
maritime sector, I think thatMITSNAC is an important piece to
have that private engagementthat we have, the public sector,
but we need the privateengagement, the industry
engagement from this 20 plusmember advisory committee.
(29:08):
We see National ShipperAdvisory Committee of the FMC
very active Mid-snack.
It's time to get it scootingagain, adding to the leadership
gap too.
Sal talked about this.
The National Security Councilexperienced what's been called
kind of a Maritime Day shakeupshortly after Maritime Day.
They lost a few keymaritime-focused members.
They were repositioned in otherpositions in the federal
government, but it's importantthat we still have that
(29:32):
excitement and that strongpresence in the White House
through the National SecurityCouncil on maritime.
Right, we have this executiveorder on maritime dominance and
we just passed the 90-day markfrom the executive order,
meaning it was April 9th, it wasJuly 8th.
That was the 90-day mark forthat.
Most deadlines for reports thatgo to the National Security
(29:53):
Council, for the most part,right, they kind of go all over
but go to the National SecurityCouncil.
I would hope that we get thatfully staffed up and maybe I
just don't know what's happeningthere.
Right, it's not like these arepublicly announced positions of
leadership under maritime andNSC positions of leadership
under maritime and NSC.
But we need these reports tocome into a fully staffed
(30:14):
maritime so that we can turnthem into a maritime action plan
, which is due 210 days from theexecutive order, which is this
November 5th date.
We still have three differentcategories under the executive
order timeline.
We have the maritime actionplan, which is due 210 days,
which is that November 5th, likeI just mentioned.
We also have two others thatare still outstanding.
(30:35):
So we have Ensuring theSecurity and Resilience of the
Maritime Industrial Base.
That's 180 days after thatApril 9th date, so that puts us
at October 6th.
And we also have Increasing theFleet of Commercial Vessels
Trading Internationally Underthe US Flag another section of
the executive order 180 daysfrom that April 9th, october 6th
.
So what does all this mean?
Why am I kind of making thisopinion piece?
I think Sal had it right on.
(30:57):
I think that we need this fullexecutive leadership, a robust
National Security Councilmaritime team ready to act.
And the thing that I'm addingon is I think that we need this
federal advisory committee, thisMaritime Transportation System
National Advisory Committee,right there, step in step,
because it gives you industrythat's ready, available, willing
to work.
I've been doing fantasticrecommendations through the last
(31:18):
charter and through many, manycharters, but also a captive
industry audience that they canbounce ideas off of, and I think
that's how USTR was using theirfederal advisory committee.
It's time for some of theseleadership roles to be filled.
Look, congress, if you'relistening, let's get going.
Let's get these filled.
And for Marriott and DOT, let'sget these advisory groups
(31:41):
activated.
Let's keep maritime movingforward.
Let's call this just asummertime slowdown, but let's
be reinvigorated, re-energizedand let's move forward into a
really active and excitingMaritime Action Plan, because I
think what this is kind of beingseen as is perhaps a National
Maritime Strategy, and that'ssomething that I can't tell you
(32:01):
how many years a NationalMaritime Strategy has both been
attempted but also called for,pined for.
I guess I should say so we'llsee what happens next.
I'm still encouraged, I'm stillexcited, I still think that
maritime is more in the nightlynews than it ever has been, and
(32:22):
I love it right.
I think that it's great to haveso many maritime issues on the
forefront, that maritimesecurity is national security,
and so I thought that it wasappropriate to have maritime as
part of the National SecurityCouncil.
I just want to see it continue,I want to see it keep going and
maybe now it's just when thework's happening in the
background.
But we need a little bit more.
We need a little bit more of ayes, we see the maritime
(32:46):
industry, we're still movingforward and we still have the
engagement.
So that's it for today.
Now, that actually is it fortoday.
If you liked this episode, besure to follow, subscribe and
leave a review.
Want to go deeper or bring thisinsight to your team.
Visit themaritimeprofessorcomfor corporate trainings,
tailored briefings and on-demandwebinars, and if your
organization needs helpnavigating the legal or
strategic side of ocean shipping, head over to Squall Strategies
(33:08):
.
That's where I provideconsulting services, regulatory
guidance and policy support forclients working directly with
federal agencies and across theglobal supply chain.
As always, this podcast is foreducational purposes only and
not legal advice.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
Until next time, this is LaurenBegan.
I'm the Maritime Professor andyou've just listened to my Land
and my Sea.
See you next time.
I got soul coming through.
Don't stop in the beat.
And on top of the world,catwalk to the beat when you see
(00:31):
me coming, mixing blue.
Everywhere I go, I'm in thespotlight.
This is a good life.
I'm living bold.
This is what good night.
I'm living bold.
This is what it looks like.
I'm a ticket out of the world.
(00:59):
Are electronic bills of ladingofficially taking off in the US?
We'll see.
And the FMC reshuffled itscompetition team.
Did you miss that?
There's a lot happening thatpotentially could reshape
maritime trade.
Stick around to find out whatall this means for you and for
the future of shipping.
Hi, welcome back to by Land andby Sea, an attorney breaking
(01:20):
down the weakened supply chainpresented by the maritime
professor.
Me, I'm Lauren Began, formerFMC International Affairs
Attorney, founder of theMaritime Professor and Skoll
Strategies.
By Landed by Sea is yourfriendly guide to the regulatory
twists and turn of global oceanshipping and me, well, I'm your
favorite maritime attorneymaking sense of it all.
So you don't have to.
(01:41):
As always, the guidance isgeneral and for educational
purposes only.
It should not be construed tobe legal advice and there's no
attorney-client privilegecreated by this video or this
podcast.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
This is plain language,maritime created for anyone not
just lawyers or industryinsiders can understand what's
happening in the world ofshipping.
(02:01):
Let's dive into this week'sepisode because, as you know,
ocean shipping moves the world.
All right.
Story number one Chinesecontainer ships get permission
to sail Russia's Arctic NorthernSea Route.
So the Russian government thisweek recently allowed Chinese
container vessels to use theNorthern Sea Route.
This cuts shipping time betweenAsia and Europe by navigating
(02:23):
along Russia's Arctic coast.
So I bring this up becausewe've recently talked about the
Northern Sea Route when we weretalking about the Federal
Maritime Commissioninvestigating maritime choke
points.
That's where shipping can getbottlenecked, as the FMC was
looking into.
This Arctic Northern Sea Routeis one of those choke points
(02:44):
with unique challenges iceconditions, limited ports and
this is interesting andsignificant because it signals
that this shipping route thatwas otherwise very Arctic might
be a viable option forcommercial container vessels to
use more frequently.
If so, and if more ships aregoing to be taking this route,
(03:06):
it could change supply chaintiming and costs.
It also might increase some ofthe challenges, some of the
possibilities, for it clearlywas designated in the
investigation as a bottleneck,so there might be some other
things that we're watching hereand I think something that the
FMC perhaps already knew thatthis area, which is why it was
(03:28):
listed, could be a newer, moreemerging area for container
shipping routes.
So that was reported fromG-Captain and a really
interesting story.
Story number two this was alsobrought to us by G-Captain and
also was I'll just jump into it.
(03:48):
So China state-ownedshipbuilding titan, cssc and
CSIC have merged to create theworld's largest shipbuilding
company.
So this is a move thatconsolidates their strengths and
streamlines resources amid somechallenging global market
changes that have been happeningrecently.
So by no means is China beenknocked off of its perch of the
(04:11):
number one shipbuilding countryin the world.
But look, this merger isn'tjust about scale.
It might also be I guess I'mkind of reading it to
potentially be a response towhat's being reported recently
as potentially declining globaldemand for new ships out of
China.
Right, there might beincreasing production costs
(04:32):
generally, but it's thisgeopolitical tensions and some
of the trade tensions that mighthave necessitated.
Perhaps I don't know Right, Imight be kind of reading into
that that might havenecessitated.
Perhaps, I don't know right, Imight be kind of reading into
that, but it's interesting thatshortly after the USTR port fees
proposal, designed toincentivize shipping on
(04:53):
non-Chinese vessels non-operatedor built Chinese vessels and
then subsequent reports comingout saying that the order book
has been significantly or atleast increasingly reducing on
Chinese orders, ships on orderout of China, that perhaps this
(05:14):
is all connected right.
I'm kind of just.
These are my opinions and I'mjust trying to connect some dots
that I'm seeing here.
Maybe has nothing to do with it, maybe this was always going to
be a combination of these twocompanies, but I can't help but
wonder if that threat of USTRport fees that we're still
expecting to, I think, hit inOctober, if the threat of these
(05:36):
USTR port fees on China builtinteroperated vessels and the
subsequent decline has beenreported in ship orders from
these Chinese shipbuilders,maybe it's putting pressure here
on these two companies andmaybe I don't know right.
This is just kind of I don'tknow, just trying to put things
together, but perhaps thismerger might be a result of that
(05:57):
.
It doesn't say that for sure.
What is being announced is thatthis consolidation has been
approved and will be goingforward, so it could lead to
shifts in ship availability,pricing globally, potentially
affecting freight costs andvessel deployment decisions.
Anytime there's kind ofconsolidation potentially could
(06:18):
be a reduction in competition.
But also, if all of theshipbuilding efforts that are
happening on the US side come tofull fruition right, it's not
going to happen next year, butit might happen in the sooner
rather than later time period,which who knows what that is,
but it might happen soonerrather than later.
And if that's true then there'sgoing to be more global
competition and perhaps that'swhat's being positioned here, so
(06:40):
that China's shipbuilding is ina better overall business
standpoint to compete againstnewer shipbuilding entities like
perhaps the United States inyears to come We'll see.
But I wanted to flag thisbecause obviously the story of
the merger reflects acombination of very important,
very large, very significantshipbuilding efforts out of
(07:03):
China.
But maybe there might be someother connections here.
So I wanted to flag that foryour attention.
Story number three the WhiteHouse.
You probably already heardabout this.
White House extends reciprocaltariffs through August 1st.
The White House issued anexecutive order.
I didn't realize it wasactually came through in an
executive order, but it's calledextending the modification on
(07:24):
the reciprocal tariff rates.
So these are those IEEP tariffs.
The tariffs were originallyimplemented as a way to kind of
rebalance US trade deficits withhow they were being positioned
and served as a negotiating toolis what we've been seeing most
recently to influence tradedeals and terms internationally.
So why is this important?
Why does this matter for thelisteners here?
(07:46):
For importers, this extensionmeans that additional tariff
costs will remain in effect fora variety of goods from multiple
countries, not just China,continuing to impact supply
chain budgets, pricing andsourcing strategies.
Strategically, these tariffsrepresent an ongoing effort it
seems right by theadministration to reshape global
trade relationships and itseems to be having that effect,
and in turn, you could argueright that it's creating trading
(08:11):
practices that maybe createmore of a I want to say fair,
but I think it's more of arebalance is actually where I
want to say what I want to gowith that more of a rebalance of
economic leverage and the tradeimbalance that we've seen for
years.
As a United States country, webring in much more than we
(08:34):
export, as kind of a generalstatement.
I think that's what some ofthis is getting at.
So, for carriers and logisticsproviders, continued tariff
influence, shipping volumes andtrade patterns across multiple
trade lanes are going to beobviously affecting demand.
We've already seen some routingchanging for Asia West Coast.
If you're watching some of thedifferent routes, the ocean
carriers in their liner serviceand their regularly scheduled
(08:56):
service, and that's, if youweren't aware, that's kind of
what containerized shipping.
That's why the FMC regulatescontainerized shipping, because
it's that liner service, thatregularly scheduled service that
the FMC oversees, and so youcan watch.
You can go onto the websites ofsome of these ocean carriers
and see They'll makeannouncements on vessel schedule
or vessel route changes, andsometimes you can see that
(09:20):
there's trends that happen fromdifferent things happening with
the tariffs, and so this is noexception to that.
Obviously, businesses continueto prepare for ongoing
tariff-related expenses.
I think everybody's just tryingto figure it out as we go, but
it looks like maybe August 1stis going to be a date that holds
a little bit stronger than thisJuly 9th and previously the
(09:42):
April 9th.
We'll see.
I think that it's still tryingto create this larger
geopolitical context andnegotiation strategy, so I mean,
it's no help, but anything's atplay, right?
This is something that willcontinue to develop and we'll
just keep watching it as itrelates to ocean shipping, right
?
This is what I think, and I'vesaid this before.
I think what you can garnerfrom some of these trade deals,
(10:03):
though, is focus on thecommodities that are moving
around and some of thecommodities that are being
positioned in the trade deals,because that'll also help you
know what ports are going to bebusier than others, where
commodities traditionally comein, because sometimes the
commodities come in throughcertain ports, perhaps two or
three ports, instead of all ofthem.
(10:24):
Equally, because usuallythere's a little bit better
infrastructure for certaincommodities coming in.
They can flip it, they cantransload, they can do all these
things with the commodity basedthrough the infrastructure
that's close to that port.
So something to keep in mind asyou're watching these trade
deals come through.
Perhaps look at them a littlebit closely to see what
commodities and if it affectsyour area of the supply chain
(10:47):
world.
All right.
Story number four the FederalMaritime Commission, because
what is a by land, by seaepisode Without talking about
the FMC?
The FMC, actually, it happeneda while ago.
I just I guess I didn't noticeit.
They reorganized a little bitof what they were doing and they
actually created a competitionsection within the Office of the
(11:11):
General Counsel that brings ineconomists from BTA.
So that's the Bureau of TradeAnalysis.
So we previously had theGeneral Counsel, and a reorg is
not kind of a new thing.
The FMC.
Every once in a while, andusually with kind of new
chairmen it can happen, but justsometimes, to realign with the
mission and the work and therelevancy of some of the
(11:31):
activities that the FMC does andoverseas.
They realign a little bit, justmoving people around and
creating a new, perhapsorganizational chart.
But here we have what it lookslike to be a more of a focus on
competition by creating a combooffice.
Essentially is what it is.
Or I think bringing economistsover from BTA to work with the
lawyers in the Office of theGeneral Counsel into this
(11:54):
competition section.
I think it's cool.
I mean, I think that's what theentire agency does anyways.
But to then have this specificcompetition section, I think
really kind of roots it in theessence of what the FMC is for,
the mission of the FMC.
This new section bringstogether the agency's economic
(12:15):
and legal expertise in oneintegrated unit aiming to
strengthen oversight andenforcement of competition
issues, of competition issues.
The only caution worry that Ihave here is the general
counsel's office was alreadypretty lean.
The Bureau of Trade Analysiswas probably already pretty lean
.
The entire agency is definitelypretty lean, and what I mean by
(12:35):
that is they only have anywherebetween 115 to maybe even 140,
when they're kind of like maxcapacity people working there,
115 to 140 or 150.
I mean that's like a teeny,tiny company and they don't
really have many people workingthere.
So moving people around I meanthe general counsel's office
(12:56):
itself is usually like 10-ishpeople To now be moving some of
those attorneys off of generalGC work and into competitive
work.
Maybe it's just a reshifting ofthe manpower there.
But also I'm curious to see ifthat has affected it, because
obviously competition is wherethe FMC needs to remain focused.
(13:18):
That's kind of their mission,right.
They are essentially thecompetition authority, the
independent regulatory agency,but the competition authority
for ocean shipping for USinterests.
I mean, arguably it bringseconomists into the general
counsel's office, so it mightmean that economists can't be
doing law work, but it mightrelieve some of that because now
it's creating less of anadministrative burden.
(13:40):
I mean you're moving from, Imean, ninth floor to the 10th
floor.
I mean that's, that's how itactually works.
The FMC is two floors of abuilding and the economists are
down not all of them, but a lotof them are down on the ninth
floor and I think they'veactually moved things around.
But either way, perhaps havingthem kind of all in the same
area has made that easier sothey can say hey, what do you
think about this?
Yeah, that's what I think too,I don.
(14:01):
They are running so lean andthey are doing so much these
days that I always just get alittle bit nervous when I see
movement or repositioning or newauthorities or expansions of
authorities, because they reallyneed a bigger budget and more
people if they are going tocontinue to work at this higher
(14:24):
frequency that they've beendoing.
So we'll see, we'll see.
But I came across that FederalRegister notice and I thought
that that was interesting.
So I wanted to do this newlittle segment called Maritime
Minute.
Like I said, I'm kind of tryingout these new little segments,
but I wanted to do the MaritimeMinute, where we bring you what
you need to know in a minute orso.
(14:45):
So the Maritime Minute today isFMC agreement category.
So we've been talking a lotabout the order to show cause
issued by the FMC against theWorld Shipping Council.
But it's kind of garnered upsome questions about agreements
at the FMC generally.
So I put this in a LinkedInpost.
But when agreements are properlyfiled with the FMC, and I say
(15:06):
that because they have to gothrough certain qualifications
or certain categories of why andhow agreements are filed at the
FMC.
But when they are properlyfiled at the FMC they receive
limited antitrust immunity,meaning that conduct that might
otherwise be consideredmonopolistic is allowed because
(15:26):
the FMC has oversight over thatlimited antitrust immunity, that
agreement and also kind of thelaw's boundaries.
It has parameters over thatagreement.
So if an agreement's purpose oractivities fall outside the
FMC's regulatory scope, thatimmunity can be challenged and
revoked, meaning thoseactivities might not be legally
allowed to continue.
(15:47):
So what are the agreement types?
And I think we're probablyalready at a minute, so this
maybe is the maritime minutessection, but we have quite a few
different agreements and I justwanted to hit them quickly just
so that you had exposure tothem.
So we have the vessel sharingagreements.
We often talk about these intheir larger version they are
global vessel sharing agreementsor the alliances.
(16:07):
So this is where shipping linesshare vessel space on specific
trade lanes, with spaceallocated differently per port
or vessel sharing, but on aglobal scale.
And those are the alliances,covering multiple trade routes
under one agreement.
Space charter agreements arealso a thing.
That's where one carrierprovides vessel space to another
for compensation or serviceswithout rationalizing capacity.
(16:27):
We have rate discussionagreements, so allows carriers
or terminal operators to discussor agree on rates or charges,
binding or non-binding.
An example of this would beWest Coast of South America
discussion agreement.
So this is and these areactually taken right off of the
FMC's website.
So if you would like to diveinto any of these agreements,
feel free to jump over to theirwebsite under the agreements
(16:48):
category category and you'll seeexamples that you can go click
through.
Cooperative working agreement isthe one that has come recently
into attention with this orderto show cause.
So cooperative workingagreements establish exclusive
or cooperative workingrelationships not covered by
other specific agreements.
They're kind of a catch-all,which is why this is an
interesting one that the FMC hasdone the order to show cause
with the World Shipping Council.
(17:09):
We also have assessmentagreements providing collective
bargained fringe benefitobligations, often related to
labor agreements.
This was something when we weretalking about the ILA stuff I
was like, oh, I didn't realizethe ILA files it with the FMC.
Conference agreements.
Carriers agree to fix uniformtariff charges and conditions
for passengers or cargo onspecific routes.
(17:30):
These conference agreementsmostly circled out I think maybe
entirely circled out with OSRA1998.
Yes, that's right, there was anOSRA before 2022.
There was an OSRA 1998, whichwas a deregulatory effort, but
for the most part conferenceskind of went away and now we see
these global alliances as kindof what's come in current day.
We also have equipmentdiscretion agreements,
(17:51):
self-explanatory joint serviceagreements.
Carriers operate jointly undera single brand with independent
rates, tariffs and billing.
Joint venture agreements,maritime terminal facilities
agreements, maritime servicesagreements.
And that's the round out.
That's your maritime minutebrief-ish, clear and maritime.
Look, that's it for today.
If you liked this episode, besure to follow, subscribe and
(18:15):
leave a review.
We missed a section.
I can't believe it.
I'm going to see if I canactually pull it back up,
because we were talking aboute-bills of lading and for some
reason it didn't make it into myscript and so we are flying
free here.
I'm going to go try to pullthat section up from my notes,
(18:39):
because I'm not sure why itdidn't make it in here.
So let me get that.
And this is where live meetsrecorded.
This is where live meetsrecorded.
So the e-bill of lading is suchan interesting new development
and I wanted to make sure thatwe did not miss it.
(19:00):
Let me see.
Here comes my notes.
Dramatic pause, here we go.
Story number five.
So this is a story from the JOC.
This story was a fantasticstory, all but brief but, I
think, for the significance ofwhat's happening here.
(19:22):
So Eric Johnson from Journal ofCommerce actually wrote this
story and I'm going to quote himfrom the very beginning because
I think that he does a reallygood job kind of presenting what
happened here.
So US Bank has completed itsfirst trade finance transaction
using a digital ocean bill oflading.
Another small step toward theindustry's intent to transition
to 100% digital bill of ladingby 2030.
(19:44):
Disclosed by US Bank onThursday was facilitated by
electronic bills of ladingsoftware vendor WaveBL for a
US-based exporter usingMediterranean shipping company
MSC, which issued the EBL.
That's all a quote from Eric'sarticle.
So this milestone and I thinkthat it should be considered
such this milestone highlightsUS Bank's pilot program to adopt
(20:08):
electronic bills of lading forUS exporters.
It's a key move to modernizeglobal trade documentation.
This traditional paper bill oflading serves as proof of cargo
ownership, a receipt, a contract.
But it can be slow and thetraditional bill right, it's a
piece of paper.
Why does this matter?
The successful transaction isproof of concept that EBLs
(20:31):
electronic bills of lading canwork effectively in real world
trade finance.
It demonstrates howdigitization can speed up
processes, reduce fraud risk andenable faster access to
financing.
By proving this model, it helpsbuild confidence among
exporters, banks, carriers, inthis adoption of EBLs.
More broadly, electronic billsof lading are truly about to,
(20:55):
and currently transformingshipping by enabling these
faster financing, lower fraudrisk and improving supply chain
transparency.
This transaction marks apivotal step toward the maritime
industry's goal of full digitaltransformation by 2030, like I
said, and now it's happened.
Maritime industry's goal offull digital transformation by
2030, like I said, and now it'shappened.
Us banks have successfullycompleted the first trade
finance transaction using theCBL.
(21:15):
This isn't just talk or theoryanymore, and I should say in the
US right, this is somethingthat is important that this was
US bank in the US.
This milestone proves theindustry is moving from concept
to reality, ushering a new areaof faster, safer and more
efficient global shipping, and Iam so delighted to see it.
So, as part of our ongoingpolicy to port series right, we
(21:36):
have all these series.
Now.
Three questions AI edition thatyou might have about EBLs and
quick answers to help youunderstand the impact.
So, number one how will thetransition to electronic bills
of lading affect my currentworkflows?
Look, transitioning to EBLs canstreamline your workflows by
replacing paper with fastdigital documents.
Right, I mean it's basicallygoing from snail mail in the
(21:59):
mailbox at the end of yourdriveway to email, right?
Speeding approvals, reducingerrors, boosting overall
efficiency.
It's an opportunity tomodernize processes and improve
collaboration through somesystem updates and training may
be needed, but really there arestandards involved with EBLs.
That is going to make this alot faster than you might
otherwise think.
(22:19):
What regulatory hurdles affectEBLs?
Well, speaking of standards,the Digital Container Shipping
Association, dcsa, released areport on legal and regulatory
barriers.
So while they identified thatthere's still some barriers that
exist out there, one of themost important things in general
(22:42):
for EBLs, as just kind of ablanket statement, is that
express acceptance by countriesaround the world will help give
confidence to all parties thatan EBL holds the same legal
weight as a fiscal bill oflading, help give confidence to
all parties that an EBL holdsthe same legal weight as a
fiscal bills lading.
That is something that I wouldlove to see happen as just a
kind of if we're going to go forEBLs, we need to have these
express acceptance by countriesand whatever that form looks
like in adoption, but if we'regoing to go EBL, it needs to
(23:03):
have some sort of legalacceptance, right?
I guess I can't say it anyother way, but go check out
DCSA's report on legal andregulatory barriers.
It's really interesting.
It breaks it down country bycountry where they think that
there are really good advanceswhereas there's still some
barriers.
On EBL specifically and I sayspeaking of standards, digital
(23:25):
Container Shipping Associationalso has a whole bunch of
standards.
They are, I mean, I'll say it,the leading standard setting
body for global ocean shippingout there.
So go take a look at DCSAanyways, but go take a look at
that report.
So the last question how cansmaller exporters adopt EBLs
without high upfront costs?
Well, in this pilot, in thisexample, in this I shouldn't
(23:46):
even say example In thissuccessful initiative, wave BL
offers accessible cloud-basedplatform designed for businesses
.
Subscription models are often away of having exporters
adopting electronic bills oflading gradually and
cost-effective.
There are ways out there.
I encourage you to look up WaveBL.
(24:06):
I think that it's a fantasticcompany to see if you are
interested in getting into EBLand this isn't even sponsored by
Wave BL.
But I think Wave BL is a greatway to kind of make the first
step.
You know, kind of dip your toein, see what Wave BL is all
about, because they've done aproof of concept here.
(24:28):
So, story number six I can'tbelieve five and six got left
off my script, but here we go.
Story number six are we missingexecutive leadership in
maritime?
And this is kind of, I guess,an opinion piece here, which all
of it really is, but this ismore of a reflective opinion
piece from me.
Recently, dr Sal Mercogliano ofwhat's Going On With Shipping,
a friend of the show asked acritical question on his podcast
(24:50):
and I've been thinking about itand I think I tend to agree Are
we missing executive leadershipon a large scale in maritime
right now?
And I don't think that we are.
Well, let me tell you what Ithink about this.
Let me explain it.
So remember how maritime washighlighted as one of the top
(25:11):
five issues by thisadministration.
Right, it was specificallycalled out by President Trump in
his speech to Congress, in hisfinal speech, as his
speechwriters, signaling bigmomentum and focus on maritime
shipbuilding.
Right, we were talking about anoffice of shipbuilding.
We had so much initiative,inertia.
That happened during TPM inMarch.
(25:32):
It was so exciting and lately Idon't know.
Look, I don't know if it's asummertime slowdown or if it
really is a lack of breezefilling our sails, but something
feels like it's slowing downand I'm hoping that it's maybe
just a summertime slowdown.
I'm encouraged because nextweek there's kind of this
impromptu sale into the AmericanSchool Counselors Association.
(25:53):
It's an annual conference inLong Beach that's happening.
There are lots of maritimeinterests that are going to be
there in the expo section andthey're going to be expanding
exposure to a maybe unsuspectinggroup of school counselors who
maybe know not much aboutmaritime.
But by next week, by golly theywill and look, hopefully
they're going to be expandingexposure and attracting new
(26:15):
talent.
But we need I can't get, I justwant to get back to this
leadership thing.
We need leadership roles filledto truly capitalize on this
energy and to get us back oncourse.
Right, let's call it asummertime slowdown, let's get
back into it by the fall when wehave the Maritime Action Plan
due.
Maybe it's all just kind of inthe background now and
everybody's still working hard,but look, the FMC, the Chairman
(26:38):
Lusola, just departed, rightJune 30th.
The commission now has fiveseats three for the majority
party, two for the minorityparty.
That's how it normally works.
But currently we only have onein the majority party seat,
that's Commissioner Rebecca Dye,and we have two Democrats.
So what otherwise would bethree Republicans, two Democrats
(27:00):
in a Republican presidency?
We have one Republican and twoDemocrats.
Maffei and Vekic are fantasticcommissioners, but it leaves the
majority at a disadvantage andthe chairman position remains
unfilled.
I was so encouraged whenChairman Sola was named January
20th that we had FMC leadershipright off the bat.
(27:20):
I was hoping that with a Julyexcuse me flip of the calendar
we might have seen a chairmandie just to get things scooting,
so that we at least had if wewere going to have only one on
the majority side, at least wehad leadership clearly defined
there.
I mean, she is the onlyRepublican in the FMC right now,
(27:41):
so she kind of probably isunofficially the leader of
what's happening and theactivities and the initiatives
coming out of the FMC and kindof seeing through what SOLA had
started and all of them hadstarted.
But we need the leader there.
We need the leader.
And on the maritime side,maritime Administration, marad
(28:02):
right, we're still waiting forthe confirmation of Steve Carmel
from Maritime Limited.
This is something that SalMercogliano was really talking
about.
We have a deputy maritimeadministrator saying, yee, he's
acting in the role, greatprogress.
But the Maritime TransportationSystem National Advisory
Committee, mitsnac, hasn't yetfully been activated and these
(28:22):
members are ready and eager,almost as if saying put us in
coach.
And I mention MITSNAC becausewhen USTR was giving their
proposals on the port fees, theytalked a lot about having their
federal advisory committeeright by their side informing
their decisions, helping toguide them as they were creating
(28:44):
proposals for the port fees.
I think that the MITSNAC couldserve that purpose and hasn't
been fully activated yet.
And with the lack of some ofthese roles being filled in the
maritime sector, I think thatMITSNAC is an important piece to
have that private engagementthat we have, the public sector,
but we need the privateengagement, the industry
engagement from this 20 plusmember advisory committee.
(29:08):
We see National ShipperAdvisory Committee of the FMC
very active Mid-snack.
It's time to get it scootingagain, adding to the leadership
gap too.
Sal talked about this.
The National Security Councilexperienced what's been called
kind of a Maritime Day shakeupshortly after Maritime Day.
They lost a few keymaritime-focused members.
They were repositioned in otherpositions in the federal
government, but it's importantthat we still have that
(29:32):
excitement and that strongpresence in the White House
through the National SecurityCouncil on maritime.
Right, we have this executiveorder on maritime dominance and
we just passed the 90-day markfrom the executive order,
meaning it was April 9th, it wasJuly 8th.
That was the 90-day mark forthat.
Most deadlines for reports thatgo to the National Security
(29:53):
Council, for the most part,right, they kind of go all over
but go to the National SecurityCouncil.
I would hope that we get thatfully staffed up and maybe I
just don't know what's happeningthere.
Right, it's not like these arepublicly announced positions of
leadership under maritime andNSC positions of leadership
under maritime and NSC.
But we need these reports tocome into a fully staffed
(30:14):
maritime so that we can turnthem into a maritime action plan
, which is due 210 days from theexecutive order, which is this
November 5th date.
We still have three differentcategories under the executive
order timeline.
We have the maritime actionplan, which is due 210 days,
which is that November 5th, likeI just mentioned.
We also have two others thatare still outstanding.
(30:35):
So we have Ensuring theSecurity and Resilience of the
Maritime Industrial Base.
That's 180 days after thatApril 9th date, so that puts us
at October 6th.
And we also have Increasing theFleet of Commercial Vessels
Trading Internationally Underthe US Flag another section of
the executive order 180 daysfrom that April 9th, october 6th
.
So what does all this mean?
Why am I kind of making thisopinion piece?
I think Sal had it right on.
(30:57):
I think that we need this fullexecutive leadership, a robust
National Security Councilmaritime team ready to act.
And the thing that I'm addingon is I think that we need this
federal advisory committee, thisMaritime Transportation System
National Advisory Committee,right there, step in step,
because it gives you industrythat's ready, available, willing
to work.
I've been doing fantasticrecommendations through the last
(31:18):
charter and through many, manycharters, but also a captive
industry audience that they canbounce ideas off of, and I think
that's how USTR was using theirfederal advisory committee.
It's time for some of theseleadership roles to be filled.
Look, congress, if you'relistening, let's get going.
Let's get these filled.
And for Marriott and DOT, let'sget these advisory groups
(31:41):
activated.
Let's keep maritime movingforward.
Let's call this just asummertime slowdown, but let's
be reinvigorated, re-energizedand let's move forward into a
really active and excitingMaritime Action Plan, because I
think what this is kind of beingseen as is perhaps a National
Maritime Strategy, and that'ssomething that I can't tell you
(32:01):
how many years a NationalMaritime Strategy has both been
attempted but also called for,pined for.
I guess I should say so we'llsee what happens next.
I'm still encouraged, I'm stillexcited, I still think that
maritime is more in the nightlynews than it ever has been, and
(32:22):
I love it right.
I think that it's great to haveso many maritime issues on the
forefront, that maritimesecurity is national security,
and so I thought that it wasappropriate to have maritime as
part of the National SecurityCouncil.
I just want to see it continue,I want to see it keep going and
maybe now it's just when thework's happening in the
background.
But we need a little bit more.
We need a little bit more of ayes, we see the maritime
(32:46):
industry, we're still movingforward and we still have the
engagement.
So that's it for today.
Now, that actually is it fortoday.
If you liked this episode, besure to follow, subscribe and
leave a review.
Want to go deeper or bring thisinsight to your team.
Visit themaritimeprofessorcomfor corporate trainings,
tailored briefings and on-demandwebinars, and if your
organization needs helpnavigating the legal or
strategic side of ocean shipping, head over to Squall Strategies
(33:08):
.
That's where I provideconsulting services, regulatory
guidance and policy support forclients working directly with
federal agencies and across theglobal supply chain.
As always, this podcast is foreducational purposes only and
not legal advice.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
Until next time, this is LaurenBegan.
I'm the Maritime Professor andyou've just listened to my Land
and my Sea.
See you next time.
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