The Ocean Transportation Intermediary Bond

Two classes of OTI

Federal maritime law recognizes two ocean transportation intermediaries. An ocean freight forwarder dispatches shipments on behalf of shippers, books space with ocean carriers, and processes documentation, without issuing its own bill of lading. A non-vessel-operating common carrier holds itself out as a carrier: it issues its own house bill of lading, publishes tariffs, and assumes carrier responsibility to its shipper customers while buying space from vessel operators. Both must be licensed by the FMC and evidence financial responsibility, ordinarily by surety bond on Form FMC-48 under 46 C.F.R. Part 515.

Group bond arrangements exist for foreign NVOCCs through approved trade associations. Confirm current penal sums against 46 C.F.R. § 515.21 at application; we verify the correct amount and form as part of underwriting.

How the FMC-48 differs from the BMC-84

• Different obligee and claims universe. The FMC-48 answers claims arising from the intermediary's ocean transportation-related activities, including shipper claims and FMC-assessed penalties, a broader field than the BMC-84's carrier-payment focus.
• Licensing is personal. FMC licensing requires a qualifying individual with documented industry experience; underwriting weighs that individual's history alongside the entity's financials.
• Both may be required. A forwarder handling door-to-door international moves — surface leg domestically, ocean leg abroad — frequently needs FMCSA authority with a BMC-84 and FMC licensing with an FMC-48. They do not substitute for one another.

Licensing mechanics at the Commission

The Federal Maritime Commission's licensing process is more personal and more documentary than the FMCSA's. A United States applicant files a license application identifying a qualifying individual, an officer or sole proprietor with several years of documented ocean transportation intermediary experience in the United States, whose history the Commission examines directly. Licensed NVOCCs additionally publish tariffs and file Form FMC-1 designating their tariff location before commencing service, and foreign-based NVOCCs choose between licensure and registration, with the higher $150,000 financial responsibility attaching to the registered-but-unlicensed path. The bond, proof of financial responsibility under 46 C.F.R. Part 515, is filed with the Commission and must remain continuously in effect; its termination without replacement suspends the license. Group bond arrangements through approved trade associations exist principally for foreign NVOCC populations and carry their own aggregate structures. We verify the correct form, amount, and branch-office add-ons against § 515.21 as part of every OTI file, because the Commission's figures govern and misfiled amounts are rejected, not corrected.