Shipping
Yang Ming orders three more methanol dual-fuel ready vessels
Yang Ming orders three more methanol dual-fuel ready vessels
Kuehne+Nagel reports H1 growth in sea and air logistics
Asia–North America West Coast demand eases — Sea-Intelligence
Port of Felixstowe welcomes The Premier Alliance
AAL completes delivery of 500MW renewable energy project in Australia
ICS backs IMO net-zero framework but calls for clarity on incentives
DHL says tariff extension fuels more transpacific shipping volatility than help
Yang Ming adds LNG dual-fuel ships to advance fleet upgrade
Port of Long Beach cargo slows in June
Chinese shipyards’ market share drops amid US port fee concerns
Emirates Courier Express expands to Australia
DP World, Asian Terminals deploy first fleet of electric internal transfer vehicles in the Philippines
Houthis cause 18M tons of added CO2 emissions – Sea Intelligence
DHL Express, Neste ink deal to use made-in-Singapore SAF for international flights
Container traffic up at Port of Antwerp-Bruges, total throughput drops
Port of Los Angeles logs busiest June for cargo on record
DaChan Bay Terminals adds India service, boosts China-India logistics corridor
DP World to develop Syria's Tartus port under 30-year deal
Port of Long Beach terminal expansion breaks ground
Singapore named top international maritime centre for 12th straight year
North Europe port congestion to persist through 2025 – Xeneta
US sets new tariff rates on 14 countries as it moved deadline to August 1
Hamburg invests €1.1B in port infrastructure expansion
Gemini switches up Asia service amid Europe's port congestion
Global schedule reliability climbed in May despite trade disruptions
Asia-NAWC capacity volatility more than triples
Containers lost at sea up more than double in 2024
Hong Kong launches up to HK$2M bunkering incentive for LNG, methanol
Sea-Intel finds top deep-sea ports among least reliable
Port of NY/NJ tops US cargo port rankings in May
Maersk to resume port calls in Haifa
Ningbo-Zhoushan Port sets H1 container record
Mawani privatizes cargo terminals at 8 Saudi Ports
BIMCO: Stable demand outlook despite market uncertainties
Hapag-Lloyd rebrands SAAM Terminals
Port of Savannah achieves third month of over half-million TEUs
CMA CGM names Esra Bora as new general manager in China
Maersk halts port calls at Haifa citing threat risks
First mega-boxship transits the Suez Canal in 15 months
ONE adds 13,900 TEU vessel to fleet
Freightos: Iran-Israel conflict not impacting freight yet
CMA CGM says shipping activities ‘proceeding as normal’ in the Middle East
Sea-Intel: Niche carriers seizing Transpacific opportunity again
Hong Kong marks first SIMOPS LNG bunkering at Modern Terminals
Tariffs put brake on cargo volume growth at Port of Los Angeles
MPA, NYK Group expand autonomous ship trials
PSA International joins Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation
Chengdu-Shenzhen-Hong Kong rail-sea service launches
Global schedule reliability continues to increase in 2025
Sea-Intel: Major ocean carriers profitability around US$5.9B in Q1 2024
Gebrüder Weiss expands into Thailand
DP World, VIMC Lines launch domestic coastal logistics service
Singapore, France ink enhanced maritime partnership agreement
CMA CGM launches first fully-electric container barge in Vietnam
MSC container ship sinks off India coast
Port of Savannah container trade up 17% in April
DP World to launch US$2.5B logistics infrastructure investment in 2025
Port of Long Beach sees record April, warns of sharp May drop amid tariff impact
Suez Canal introduces rebates to regain containership traffic
CMA CGM warns extended China-US tariffs could disrupt global trade
U.S. slashes ‘de minimis’ tariff on small China parcels to 30%
LA, Long Beach ports warn of continued tariff uncertainty
China-US deescalation may spur early peak season
Yang Ming: US-China trade deal may spur demand, but uncertainty persists
US-China tariff pause offers temporary relief, could fuel another frontloading rush
Transpacific shipping faces capacity cuts as trade war escalates
Houthi ceasefire raises prospect of container traffic returning to Red Sea
Kale Logistics to develop Oman's national port community system
PSA BDP takes majority stake in Mexico’s ED Forwarding
Xeneta: ‘Ships for America Act’ adds more uncertainty to container shipping market
JAFZA marks 40 years with record US$190B in trade
Seafrigo expands multi-modal services to support global expansion
US port fees to have minimal impact on Transpacific niche carriers
CONTAINER SECTOR LAUNCHES TWO ALLIANCES OF FIVE LARGEST LINES
January 20, 2015
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company Croatia
Mediterranean Shipping Co and Maersk have formed the 2M Alliance and will join together in vessel and slot sharing/purchase agreements.

January 2015 will go down in maritime history as a very important dateline, particularly in the container shipping sector, where two new alliances comprising five of the largest shipping lines in the industry, were officially formed and launched.

Under the names the 2M Alliance, and the Ocean Three Agreement, Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) will join together in new vessel and slot sharing/purchase agreements, and CMA-CGM, together with United Arab Shipping Co (UASC) and China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) will operate under a new combined service network.

The 2M Alliance will operate through a vessel sharing agreement structure, with a total capacity of 2.4m teu available on the major East/West trade lanes:

Asia/North Europe

Asia/Mediterranean

Transatlantic (North Europe/US)

Transatlantic (Mediterranean/US)

Transpacific (Asia/US West coast)

Transpacific (Asia/US East coast)

The Ocean Three Agreement will cover exactly the same trade lanes and consequently offer:

Six weekly sailings on the Asia/North Europe trade, four on the Asia/Mediterranean trade, four to cover the Asia/US West coast trade, and two to cover the Asia/US East coast trade.

Both the 2M and Ocean Three follow closely on the heels of the establishment of the new look CKYHE Alliance, which adds Evergreen to the COSCO, K Line, Yangming and Hanjin grouping, and separately the setting up of the G6 Alliance, comprising the old-style Grand and New World alliances.

But the important factor of all these developments is that this is not a “closed shop” scenario whereby only the five lines are involved – on the contrary, other lines are also involved through various vessel and slot sharing/purchase agreements.

Yangming has once again been associated with the Ocean 3 service network, this time on the Asia/Black Sea trade.

Although Yangming will not officially become a member line of the Ocean 3 group, from mid-January, the line will drop its present joint service with China Shipping, Wan Hai and Pacific International Lines, and through a new deal, purchase slots on the Ocean 3 Black Sea Express known as the BEX service.

At present, Yangming has a vessel sharing agreement with CSCL/Wan Hai/PIL on the Asia/Black Sea Express (ABX) service covering: Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Port Kelang, Piraeus, Istanbul, Ilyichevsk, Constanza, Port Kelang, Shanghai. Deployment : 11 x 5,500 teu vessels.

But from mid-January, the line will join the new Ocean 3 BEX service as a slot purchaser to cover the Asia/Eastern Mediterranean trade. However, starting from the first westbound sailing from Dalian on January 16, Yangming will join the BEX service to cover: Dalian, Tianjin, Kwangyang, Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Port Kelang, Beirut, Evyap, Istanbul, Constanza, Odessa, Ilyichevsk, Istanbul, Piraeus, Port Kelang, Dalian. Deployment : 11 x 9,000/10,600 teu vessels.

The Ocean 3 lines are to start deploying 10,000+ teu vessels on the BEX service during the first four months of 2015. CMA-CGM is expected to deploy the first of the 10,000+ teu vessels, the 10,662 teu CMA-CGM Loire from January 23, followed by sister vessels up until the end of April.

By the end of April, the BEX service deployment will comprise 11 x 9,000/10,600 teu vessels with at least six newly-delivered CMA-CGM vessels being in the 10,000+ teu capacity frame.

Eventually, the service is expected to deploy nine 10,600 teu CMA-CGM vessels, operating alongside slightly smaller 9,000 teu vessels deployed by UASC and/or CSCL.

Continuing on a very similar track, and also starting from mid-January, Evergreen will purchase slots on the new Ocean 3 Yangtze/AAS2/AWS1 service covering the Asia/US West coast trade.

Evergreen will market the service as the AAC3 service and the first scheduled eastbound voyage for Evergreen is planned for January 18 from Shanghai by the 8,530 teu Xin Ou Zhou. Service port rotation will be: Shanghai, Ningbo, Pusan, Los Angeles, Oakland, Shanghai.

Still on the transpacific trade, the Ocean Three agreement service portfolio is to be further strengthened by additional lines with a new vessel and slot sharing agreement starting in January between the Ocean Three lines and Pacific International Lines

(PIL) together with Yangming.

The two new co-operation agreements will involve the Ocean Three services

known as the AAS2/AWS1/PSW Loop 3 and the PNW Loop 5.

On the AAS2/AWS1/PSW Loop 3 service, the lines will operate six vessels covering: Shanghai, Ningbo, Pusan, Los Angeles, Oakland, Shanghai.

However, from January 2015, PIL and Yangming will also be involved as three of the six vessels deployed, will come from UASC, while the other three lines, CMA-CGM, Yangming and PIL will each provide one vessel.

On the PNW 5 Loop 5 service, deployment details have yet to be confirmed,

but it is understood that both PIL and Yangming will deploy capacity on this

service as well. So what outwardly seems a straightforward new alliance structure, is far from being just that.

 

By Paul Richardson

Sea Freight Correspondent | London