FMC: RoRo Carriers to Jointly Negotiate for Tug Services

WWL Roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels deployed in services covered by a cooperative working agreement between four major car carriers will be allowed to jointly negotiate for the procurement of tug services at all US ports, starting from January 23, 2017. Parties to the agreement include Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) from Norway, Eukor Car Carriers (Eukor) and Hyundai Glovis (Glovis) from South Korea and American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier (ARC) from the USA. On January 19, 2017, the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) voted to allow the amendment to the existing agreement to come into force. The parties to the WWL/EUKOR/ARC/Glovis Cooperative Working Agreement sought very limited new authority in terms of joint procurement, Mario Cordero, Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, said. Careful analysis of what was proposed yielded no concerns about potential anticompetitive behavior or adverse consequences to ports, or the American shipper. Ultimately, this amendment should increase efficiencies, benefitting our nation’s port gateways, Cordero added.