Despite being in bankruptcy, American home furnishings retail giant 3B Home (Bed Bath & Beyond) still casts a heavy shadow on the container shipping industry with its huge influence.
Recently, the company filed a claim of up to approximately $1.25 million against Evergreen Marine through the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC). This move not only revealed a serious breach of the carrier's service commitment, but also pushed the unfair practices of the shipping industry during the pandemic to the forefront.
3B Home's lawsuit details Evergreen Shipping's breach of trust in its service pledges. They claim that although Evergreen Marine promised to provide a specific amount of cargo space for 3B Home, the capacity provided was nowhere near that promise.
According to the documents, between 2020 and 2021, Evergreen promised to provide 1,250 FEU of cargo space, but only fulfilled 25684 FEU, which is only 20% of the commitment.
And in 2021-2022, despite the promise to increase to 750 FEU, the actual offer is only 45592feu。This has forced 3B Home to look for shipping services from other channels at a higher level, and sometimes even has to abandon shipping altogether. This action resulted in an additional payment of about $4 million for the company when it switched to the spot market.
In addition to the shortage of capacity, 3B Home also accused Evergreen of imposing ** and surcharges outside the contract as a precondition for its services.
According to the company, the relationship between Evergreen and 3B Home was not based on agreed contract rates and service commitments, but on ongoing bargaining.
In the FMC filing, a record of correspondence between 3B Home and Evergreen Marine was also cited in which it was claimed that the container shipping company's surcharge was "just a means of renegotiating rates."
There was even an email showing that some customers were willing to pay an additional $1,000 on top of the contract**.
The lawsuit has undoubtedly added to the controversy over the shipping industry's "unfair" practices during the pandemic. Prior to this, 3B Home had filed claims against OOCL and Yang Ming Marine Transport totaling approximately US$38 million. These complaints all point to operators trying to take advantage of the chaos caused by the pandemic and taking similar measures. In the run-up to the Long Beach TPM meeting, the lawsuit has undoubtedly added a hot topic to the discussion within the industry: about D&D, FMC, and unfair operator practices.
This lawsuit not only reveals the dark side of the shipping industry, but also makes people wonder: are industry giants ignoring their due responsibilities and obligations in the pursuit of profits?