The number of blanked sailings is growing on the Asia-Europe trades as carriers sit becalmed in the slack season with no clear idea of whether to expect a pre-Chinese New Year rush.
Monday January 20, 2020
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2M Alliance
2M Alliance
In 2015 Maersk Line and MSC launched the 10-year 2M Alliance vessel-sharing agreement on the Asia-Europe, trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trades, in an effort to better utilize their combined capacity in the wake of their failed bid to launch the P3 Network. The arrangement, which includes a series of slot exchanges and slot purchases on East-West routes, also involves Maersk Line and MSC taking over a number of charters and operations of vessels chartered to Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM).
In an effort to forge even closer working relationships between the carriers, technology specialists from MSC and Maersk have joined forces [in 2018] with their counterparts from CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express (ONE) to form a neutral, non-profit entity to discuss the digitalization, standardization and interoperability of the container shipping industry in the future, rather than develop or operate their own digital platform. The information technologyg standards that they jointly create will be openly avaiable, free of charge, to all stakeholders in the wider container shipping industry.
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04 Sep 2019
For the second consecutive year, Maersk and MSC have withdrawn the AE2/Swan Asia-Europe service in a bid to match capacity with slack demand.
21 Aug 2019
Zim’s broadening partnership with the 2M Alliance helped the Israeli carrier record a profit in the second quarter of 2019 and an increase in freight rates for the quarter over the same period in 2018.
19 Aug 2019
Carrier market share in the trans-Pacific is not expected to change much in the next few months, in part because carriers will manage capacity by blanking individual sailings and deploying extra-loader vessels to handle import surges.
24 Jul 2019
The 2M Alliance is holding off on blanking sailings while rival alliances slash capacity through July and August in a bid to shore up slumping rates.
05 Jul 2019
Expectations of slowing demand on the Asia-Europe trade have left the market with little inclination to accept carrier rate increases.
03 Jul 2019
Amid rising Asian imports into the Gulf Coast, two new services linking the regions that Zim Integrated Shipping Services will launch in August are expected to increase the cargo moved by the carrier with the 2M Alliance, strengthening the relationship as 2M prepares to lose market share due to the departure of HMM.
03 Jul 2019
Another round of blank sailings has been announced, this time by the Ocean Alliance, as carriers sail into a decidedly uncertain peak season shipping period.
01 May 2019
Container carrier schedule reliability in the eastbound trans-Pacific has bounced back from record lows in early 2019 but still lags global on-time performance by quite a bit.
23 Apr 2019
HMM’s new CEO is on a European tour that will focus on three key challenges: the future of its 2M Alliance relationship, winning customer trust, and gaining insight into the low-sulfur fuel mandate.
27 Mar 2019
The South Korean container carrier says its new CEO will “focus on a customer’s view on handling HMM’s current issues in order to lead managerial innovation and strengthen its sales competitiveness.”
08 Jan 2019
Carriers among the other two alliances are expected to announce their own blanking programs.
29 Aug 2018
The reduction in capacity, less than anticipated, provides a slight amount of relief to shippers scrambling to find capacity this peak season.
22 Jun 2018
Several factors, including mega-ships deployed, North Asia congestion, rising bunker fuel prices, and the impact of Trump administration tariffs, are compromising schedule integrity in the trans-Pacific.
01 Jun 2018
Ocean carriers’ fixed costs rose in the first quarter, and surcharges ensued. However, the hikes occur even as the surplus capacity issue lingers, prompting debate regarding whether carriers can maintain the surcharges.
25 May 2018
With such a sharp increase in bunker fuel prices that dragged carriers into a loss-making first quarter, it is no surprise that Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co. will levy an emergency bunker surcharge from June 1.
19 Mar 2018
The 2M Alliance will adjust its Asia-Europe network, losing many direct calls in a revamp aimed at improving reliability.
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