Policy & Compliance
The shipping line ‘merry-go-round’
The changing pecking order among the world’s major shipping lines is resulting in a sign fi cant overhaul of their alliances, which will come into effect in February 2025
T he shipping lines of the world operate in a variety of ways. Most work on a combination of vessel-sharing agreements and alliances or, in the case of the very largest, offer standalone services. There is no doubt that the re-alignments announced in September 2024 are significant; however, there is a certain inevitability to the changes, given recent history and market developments. By nature, alliances and other forms of co- operation tend to be relatively fluid and short term with new alliances and vessel-sharing arrangements due to commence in February 2025.
In many ways these changes stem from MSC’s decision to end the 2M Alliance between itself and Maersk. Greater scrutiny The extent to which greater regulator interventions in the containerised shipping market in Europe and the USA have shaped them is unclear at this stage, but greater scrutiny must have been considered by the lines. Recently MSC has been significantly expanding capacity and now operates in excess of 850 vessels
14 | November 2024
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