The Danish shipping giant Maersk received a boost this week after the US Federal Maritime Commission approved the 2M shipping alliance with Swiss shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
The 2M alliance, which involves the world’s two largest container-shipping companies in terms of capacity, will consist of 185 container ships moving across 21 ocean trade routes carrying about one third of the entire world’s cargo.
Maersk will still require China and the EU to approve the deal, and will be holding its breath, particularly in China after the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) failed to approve the now shelved P3 alliance early this year.
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Maersk expects that the deal – which is scheduled to come into effect at the end of the year – will save the company about two billion kroner annually.
The China Shippers’ Association (CSA) – which represent the owners, operators and managers of Chinese merchant ships and which applauded the Chinese government for blocking the P3 agreement – has voiced concern over the 2M agreement as well.
"You cannot ignore that Maersk and MSC each already hold a large share of the market, so we think that for China it's not a suitable arrangement," a CSA spokeswoman told Reuters.
