Full Volume 19 - Federal Maritime Commission

364 FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION
average 7 4 percent each of the conference cargoes eastbound But since
1968 the conference trade has become 94 6 percent containerized APL
and AML started to containerize their fleets much later than Respondents
PFEL committed itself to the LASH concept largely abreakbulk
concept Through 1974 States still adhered to the breakbulk concept
U S Unes entered the trades in 1970 and relief heavily upon military
cargoes during the Viet Nam contlict When the availability of those
cargoes was sharply curtailed United States Unes was required to fmd
cargoes elsewhere Even so USL had a 2 percent share in 1974 as
compared to its 4 percent share in 1968 and Sea Land increased its
share from 2 percent in 1968 to 13 2 percent in 1970 to 14 7 percent in
1974 All of those factors had an effect upon the share of conference
cargoes carried by AML APL PFEL and States
This proceeding has been miscast as a contlict between U S flag
carriers and Japanese flag carriers There is no evidence that Respondents
concentrated their competitive activities upon U S tlagcarriers To the
contrary one U S flag carrier providing a fully
containerized commer
cially oriented efficient service Sea Land Service Inc acquired by 1970
a greater share of the inbound conference cargoes than any other carrier
in the conference As of 1974 Sea Land had increased that share to 147
percent of the conference carryings inbound stiR the greatest share
The record does not contain any evidence that Respondents practiced
any deceits or supplanted economic power for the quality of their
service The record does not contain any evidence that any carrier has
been excluded from the Japan U S Pacific Coast trades since the
inception of Agreement Nos 9718 9731 and 9835
Consequently the Commission finds that Respondents entered into
these agreements to facilitate the transition from a breakbulk to afully containerized service that Respondents have recaptured the share of
conference Clllioes which Respondentsel ioyed prior to commencing the
transition and that the conduct of Respondents pursuant to Agreement
Nos 9718 and 9131 in the period 1968 tbrouahl974hasnotbeen shown
to have been ul iuatly discriminatoryot unfair as between carriers
By the means of Agreement Nos 9718 and 9731 Respondents have
reduced the level of competition among themselves As such the
agreements run counter to the policies enunciated in the United States
antitrust laws in favor of free and open competition in the marketplace
It is necessary therefore to examine what benefits if any these
agreements confer upon the public for the Commission will not approve
an agreement if it invades the policies enunciated inthe antitrust laws
more than is necessary to serve the regulatory purposes of the Shipping
Act
Pursuant to Agreement No 9718 Japan Line Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha
Mitsui O S K Unes and Yamashita Shinnihon Steamship Company each
advertise twice weekly sailings between Oakland and Los Angeles onthe
one hand and Kobe Tokyo Yokohama and Shimizu on the other a
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