Asia/Pacific News
Maersk Line, MSC 2M Alliance Launch Planned for Early 2015
Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) expect to launch the new 2M vessel sharing alliance as soon as January, Reuters reports.
The companies will notify customers about planned transit times for the network by September.
Speaking in Shanghai Wednesday, Maersk Line's China Managing Director Jens Eskelund said the market share held by the two carriers on the Asia-Europe route would not be unusual for a shipping alliance.
"Other alliances have been able to operate similar market shares to the ones that we will have on Asia-Europe," he said.
The alliance would represent less than 30 percent of the Asia-Europe shipping market, according to analysts.
China's Ministry of Commerce, which blocked a previous proposal for the two lines to join with CMA CGM in a bigger alliance known as P3, does not need to approve the 2M proposal, Eskelund said.
Some Chinese government and shipping leaders said last month that the 2M alliance could cause problems for the nation's shipping lines and import and export businesses.
