Maersk and MSC sign vessel-sharing deal
The world's top two container shippers, Maersk Line and Swiss-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping, have struck a fresh vesselsharing agreement after a previous three-way pooling deal known as P3 was undone by China's failure to approve it.
The world's top two container shippers, Maersk Line and Swiss-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping, have struck a fresh vesselsharing agreement after a previous three-way pooling deal known as P3 was undone by China's failure to approve it.
The new agreement between Maersk and MSC will include 185 vessels with an estimated capacity of 2.1 million 20-foot equivalent units (teu), of which Maersk will contribute 55 per cent of the total capacity.
They will run the transatlantic, transpacific and Asia-Europe routes, critical paths in the global trade of goods.
Maersk had formed a similar agreement with MSC and France's CMA-CGM which aimed to cut costs. But the deal came unstuck last month when Chinese regulators blocked it.
At the time Maersk chief executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen said the Chinese decision had been "a big surprise" after European Union and US regulators allowed the deal to go through.
The three-way agreement had been criticised by cargo owners and shippers' groups because of fears it could dominate key trade routes, pushing out smaller carriers and potentially driving up prices.