Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM agreed to establish an alliance to improve and optimize operations and service offerings. The three carriers own charter ships with about 6.4 million TEUs of capacity. That’s about 37% of the world container fleet which totals 17.3 million TEUs. The alliance is subject to the approval of relevant competition and other regulatory authorities. The alliance hopes to begin operation of the network in the second quarter of next year.
So what does this alliance mean to you as an existing shipper or potential shipper? Less carriers means less price shopping. Knowing a a good freight forwarder who works with the alliance and has established rates can go along way in helping you to secure better rates for your shipments, since they have existing relationships and can provide rates for containers based on shipping TEUs of all of their customers consolidated.
You can read more about the potential alliance here.
