Alliance

On February 1, 2025, ONE, HMM, and Yang Ming will part ways with their alliance partner Hapag-Lloyd. The German shipping company announced in January that it would be leaving THE Alliance and forming a new partnership with Maersk from that date. the Gemini CooperationA year earlier, in January 2023, the first domino in this series of developments fell when Maersk and MSC announced that they would eventually end their joint 2M alliance.

Since it became known that THE Alliance would continue without Hapag-Lloyd, analysts have questioned whether the alliance would be strong enough. There were fewer concerns about MSC, as the Swiss-Italian market leader has grown significantly and appears capable of operating independently. While there will be a partnership between the Premier Alliance and MSC through slot exchanges, MSC is not joining as a full alliance member.

Nine Asia-Europe services

The "strategic partnership" between the Premier Alliance and MSC involves nine different Asia-Europe services, according to ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon. His company aims to provide broader direct port coverage with direct sailings between Asia, Northern Europe, and the Mediterranean.

On Monday, MSC published its "Standalone East/West Network," the new service schedule that will take effect from February, marking the start of its operations without the 2M alliance.

MSC summarizes its new "Standalone East/West Network" by stating that, with full operational control over its network, it offers customers routing options via both the Suez Canal and the Cape of Good Hope. This includes a total of 34 loops across 5 major trade routes. The company’s website now features separate route plans for both the Suez Canal and the Cape of Good Hope routes.

As usual, MSC’s services have distinct names. The Port of Rotterdam will continue to be served by the Asia-Europe routes "Lion," "Swan," "Silk," and "Condor," regardless of whether they travel via the Cape of Good Hope or the Suez Canal.

Block exemption regulation

The existence of alliances in container shipping seemed firmly established for years. However, leading up to April 25, 2024, when the EU abolished the special cartel exemption (the "block exemption") for container shipping companies, there were significant doubts about whether these alliances could continue.

In February, the Ocean Alliance, the alliance of CMA CGM, Cosco, OOCL and Evergreen, had also already expressed confidence in this by signing a new agreement until 2032.

Source: NT