Ocean freight carriers have been shuffling for position during recent times, as the carrier alliance format we have become used to is now set for change from next year.
Last year, Maersk and MSC set the ball rolling for change when they announced that their relationship was coming to an end in 2025, when the 2M alliance would cease to exist.
The following weeks and months saw lots of communications from both of the world’s largest steamship lines, hinting that they would be operating as solo independent networks. However, Maersk announced last month that they are entering a new vessel sharing agreement with Hapag Lloyd from 2025, namely the Gemini Cooperation.
This announcement came as a big surprise to many within the industry and perhaps even shocked the other carriers within THE Alliance (THEA), as Hapag Lloyd were members of that agreement, which was widely believed to be running until 2030.
It continues to be unclear how the remaining THEA members – ONE, Yang Ming, and HMM – will be operating from 2025.
However, news this week may have provided a clue, when Ocean Network Express (ONE) announced a joint service with Taiwanese carrier Wan HAI Lines on the transpacific trade. According to earlier suggestions in a report in The Loadstar, Wan Hai may be a consideration for taking Hapag Lloyd’s place in THEA. If so, the alliance would be the only one made up of purely Asian based carriers.
Without allowing for the Wan Hai rumours, the carrier alliance set up for 2025 is as follows:
MSC – Independent
Maersk, Hapag Lloyd – Gemini Cooperation
CMA CGM, OOCL, Cosco, Evergreen – The Ocean Alliance
ONE, Yang Ming, HMM – THE Alliance
That’s how things stand right now, but we suspect there may be more changes to come as the packs reshuffle.
