President Trump has designated Laura DiBella as Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, elevating the recently confirmed commissioner to lead the agency as the administration accelerates its push to restore U.S. maritime strength.

The designation, announced Wednesday, comes just three weeks after DiBella was sworn in as an FMC commissioner on January 6, following her Senate confirmation in December. As Chairman, she will serve as the agency’s chief executive and administrative officer, overseeing federal regulation of international ocean commerce and port practices.

“It was a true honor to simply be nominated as a Commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission, and to now be tapped as Chairman is nothing short of a privilege,” DiBella said in a statement. “I am humbled and grateful for the faith that President Trump has demonstrated in me, and the gravity and responsibility of the role is not lost on me.”

DiBella said she looks forward to leading the commission in support of President Trump’s executive order on “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance,” a sweeping policy initiative aimed at rebuilding U.S. shipping, shipbuilding, and port competitiveness.

The new chairman brings deep maritime and economic development experience to the five-member commission. She previously served as Florida’s first female Secretary of Commerce, President and CEO of Enterprise Florida, Executive Director of the Florida Harbor Pilots Association, and Port Director of the Port of Fernandina Ocean Highway and Port Authority. She is also an attorney at Adams & Reese.

She fills the vacancy left by Louis Sola, whose term expired in June 2025 following his resignation. Sola, originally nominated by Trump in 2018, had been named Chairman after the president’s second inauguration in January 2025.

The designation places DiBella at the head of an agency that has sharply escalated its enforcement posture in recent weeks, issuing one of the largest civil penalties in FMC history while opening sweeping investigations that could reshape core practices at U.S. ports.

Just yesterday, the FMC announced it had imposed $22.67 million in civil penalties on MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, concluding a multi-year enforcement case that found the world’s largest container carrier engaged in systematic billing violations. The Commission’s investigation determined MSC’s billing practices constituted an unreasonable practice rather than mere mistakes, which was key to overturning more lenient findings on container overcharges that affected about 23% of all refrigerated container invoices in 2021.

The leadership change also comes as the FMC ramps up its adjudicatory capacity. On Wednesday, the agency announced it had detailed two additional administrative law judges from the Department of Health and Human Services to help manage what officials describe as a record backlog of complex proceedings, many stemming from pandemic-era supply chain disruptions.

Perhaps the most consequential initiative now underway is a January 26 investigation into carrier control of chassis access, probing whether ocean carriers are unlawfully restricting truckers and shippers from choosing their own equipment providers.

The FMC’s profile has risen sharply since the pandemic-era import surge, when port congestion, soaring freight rates, and mounting billing disputes exposed deep structural weaknesses in ocean shipping and U.S. port operations. That spotlight intensified with passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, which significantly expanded the agency’s enforcement powers, strengthened shipper protections, and increased scrutiny of carrier practices related to detention, demurrage, and service contracts.

The Federal Maritime Commission is the independent federal agency regulating U.S. international ocean transportation to ensure a fair, efficient, and competitive maritime supply chain. The Commission consists of five commissioners appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate for staggered five-year terms, with one designated to serve as chairman.

DiBella holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management and Business Administration from the University of Florida.