10 FIRMS PAY $520,000 FOR ALLEGED SHIPPING ACT VIOLATIONS

10 FIRMS PAY $520,000 FOR ALLEGED SHIPPING ACT VIOLATIONS       Ocean shipping lines, ocean transportation intermediaries, freight forwarders and non-vessel-operating common carriers paid the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission $520,000 to settle alleged violations of the 1984 Shipping Act.
   Panalpina Inc. and Panalpina FMS, Inc., each paid $150,000 to settle allegations that Panalpina permitted its subsidiary Panalpina FMS, an unlicensed forwarder to use Panalpina’s forwarding license and to collect compensation from ocean carriers. The fines also covered allegations that FMS operated without a valid license. Panalpina, Inc. is based in Morristown, N.J. The subsidiary is based in Hanover, Md.
   Tecmarine Lines, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based vessel operator in the U.S./Caribbean trades, paid $80,000 for allegedly allowing shippers to obtain ocean transportation for less than applicable rates on shipments transported from the United States to Trinidad from January 1998 through December 1999.
   Other companies and amounts paid are: Yatari Express Co. Ltd., an OTI-NVO, $65,000; Universal Freightways Corp., an OTI located in Miami and operating as an NVO, $45,000; Newport Cargo Consolidated Inc., an OTI based in Hawthorne, Calif., and operating as an ocean freight forwarder in the transpacific trade, $45,000; Dedola International Inc., a Long Beach, Calif.-based OTI, $40,000; Interocean Lines and Trinity Shipping Line S.A., both of Miami, $30,000 each; Robert S. Rullo, doing business as ABA Forwarding, surrendered his forwarding license and paid $15,000; Signet Shipping Co., a vessel operating common carrier, based in Houston and operating in the Central America trades, $20,000.