Dominic Chopping of The Wall Street Journal reports that global shipping lines extended their vessel-sharing agreements as carrier earnings slide. He writes:
Four Asian and European container lines are extending their vessel-sharing agreement as rival carriers reset their alliances in a market beset by plentiful capacity and low freight rates.
China’s Cosco Shipping, CMA CGM of France, Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine and Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line, a unit of Cosco, agreed to continue sharing ship capacity through 2032 under the Ocean Alliance pact they formed in 2017.
The extension of the Ocean Alliance agreement, which was set to expire in 2027, adds a measure of stability to the network of shipping pacts that has undergone a shakeup since Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping announced in January they would end their 2M Alliance operating agreement next year. […]
Adding to complexities, recent attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea have forced shipping lines to divert their vessels by thousands of miles, which has increased fuel costs and sent freight rates higher.
Read more here.
