Shipping Act of 1916

Enacted September 7, 1916, the Act created the Shipping Board to build up a merchant fleet and regulate carriers. It required carriers to file conference and other agreements with the board, which could approve them and so exempt them from antitrust law, and banned deferred rebates, retaliation against shippers and unjust discrimination. The board's regulatory functions passed through several agencies to the Federal Maritime Commission in 1961. The Shipping Act of 1984 replaced its rules for foreign commerce.

The 1916 Act began the system of regulated carrier cooperation that still shapes ocean shipping, from alliance agreements to FMC oversight. Today's vessel sharing alliances, which decide which ships and ports serve each trade, are filed with the FMC under a framework that started here. For example, when Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd launched the Gemini Cooperation in 2025, its agreement was filed with the FMC beforehand, a legacy of the 1916 filing requirement. Importers feel these agreements through schedule reliability and port rotations.

• Ocean Carrier Alliance Realignment2017 · Three alliances come to dominate east-west trades
• Gemini Cooperation2025 · Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd launch a hub-and-spoke network

• Shipping Act of 19841984, amended 1998 and 2022 · US law regulating ocean carriers and NVOCCs
• Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (Jones Act)1920 · US-built, US-crewed ships only between US ports
• EU Repeal of the Liner Conference Block Exemption2006, effective 2008 · Ended EU antitrust immunity for liner conferences

1. Shipping Act of 1916, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org