Bed, bath & beyond estate accuses HMM of service failures, seeks $9.3 million in damages

SEOUL : The estate of bankrupt US home-goods retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond has filed yet another complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), continuing to blame container shipping disruptions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic for contributing to its collapse.

In its sixth FMC complaint, filed on December 30, 2025, the company—now operating as DK Butterfly-1—has targeted South Korea-based carrier HMM, alleging failure to meet service commitments, capacity shortfalls, and coercive pricing practices.

Bed, Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy in April 2023 after a prolonged financial decline. Since then, it has pursued multiple legal actions against global container lines, claiming they “systematically failed to meet service commitments” and unfairly exploited shippers during a period of severe space shortages and freight rate inflation.

The retailer first lodged complaints in 2023 against Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, later expanding its actions to include Evergreen, BAL Container Line, and CMA CGM. The FMC has previously noted that, alongside Bed, Bath & Beyond’s filings, it received a surge of smaller complaints from shippers alleging similar contractual breaches during the pandemic.

In its complaint against HMM, Bed, Bath & Beyond notes that it was a new customer and repeatedly flagged difficulties in securing container space. In a July 2020 email to the carrier, the company said: “We can’t afford any booking confirmation delays ever, but esp at this critical time. We desperately need space from all of our carriers right now….”

According to the filing, Bed, Bath & Beyond had a 2020–2021 service contract with HMM covering 1,000 forty-foot containers, averaging 100 per month. For 2021–2022, the commitment was increased to 2,000 FEUs, or roughly 166 containers per month. The complaint alleges a shortfall of more than 62 containers in 2020–2021 and 531 containers in 2021–2022.

The retailer claims that these shortfalls, combined with alleged pressure to pay extra-contractual freight rates and surcharges, resulted in damages of over $440,000 during the 2020–2021 contract period and more than $8.9 million in 2021–2022.

In addition to seeking damages for alleged service failures and pricing practices, the estate is also requesting relief from a substantial portion of the demurrage and detention charges imposed by HMM. The complaint cites more than $4 million in demurrage charges and an additional $680,000 in detention charges assessed between September 2021 and January 2023. Bed, Bath & Beyond argues that these costs were incurred despite circumstances beyond its control that made it impossible to collect loaded containers or return empty equipment within the prescribed timeframes.

Container carriers, however, have consistently rejected such claims, maintaining that the global shipping industry was overwhelmed by unprecedented demand during the pandemic period. Shipping lines have argued that they worked with shippers to the extent possible, but, like their customers, were constrained by severe port congestion, equipment shortages, and widespread supply chain disruptions that left all parties with limited control over operations.