MERCK RESIGNS FROM FMC

MERCK RESIGNS FROM FMC    Antony M. Merck has resigned as commissioner of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission.
   Merck became FMC commissioner under the former Clinton administration in January 2000, replacing Ming Chen Hsu.
   During his time at the FMC, Merck worked on various agency issues, such as the 1998 Ocean Shipping Reform Act impact study and the fact finding into exclusive tug arrangements in Florida’s Port Everglades and Port Canaveral.
   Prior to his appointment to the agency, Merck was a partner at Charleston, S.C.-based law firm Buist, Moore, Smythe & McGee from 1973 to 1994. He focused on admiralty and maritime law, representing shipowners and protection and indemnity clients.
   Some of the maritime-related associations with which Merck has been affiliated are the Maritime Association of the Port of Charleston, the Lowcountry International Trade Association, the Trident Chamber of Commerce and its International Trade Task Force, the U.S. Propeller Club, and the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute. Since 1980, Merck has been a proctor member of the U.S. Maritime Law Association. Merck also spent eight years in the U.S. military during the 1960s.
   The FMC's other four commissioners are Chairman Harold J. Creel Jr., Joseph E. Brennan, John A. Moran, and Delmond J.H. Won. The Bush administration is expected to fill Merck’s former position.