As businesses leave their current partnerships on the major east-west trades, liner shipping will undergo its biggest reorganization in ten years in just two weeks. According to research by Asia-based container shipping consultant Linerlytica, the Ocean Alliance—which consists of COSCO, OOCL, CMA CGM, and Evergreen—will have the biggest market share and the broadest market coverage this year. It is the only grouping that will still be in place on February 1.
The Ocean Alliance will deploy approximately 390 container ships with a nominal capacity of almost 5 million TEU, according to data from competitor Alphaliner. Next month, THE Alliance will be rebranded as the Premier Alliance, with Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) filling in the gaps on Asia-Europe trade routes and Ocean Network Express (ONE), HMM, and Yang Ming Marine Transportation as partners. Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd will leave THE Alliance to join the Danish carrier in what will be known as the Gemini Cooperation after MSC abandons Maersk in the 2M vessel sharing arrangement at the end of January in order to essentially operate alone.
With 15 sailings to the west coast and eight to the east, the Ocean Alliance will have what it calls a “dominant” position on the transpacific, according to Linerlytica data. With the addition of a seventh route, it will also have the most extensive coverage to North Europe, matching that of MSC. MSC will continue to be the leading carrier to the Mediterranean, with the Swiss line providing six weekly departures.
The Gemini Cooperation, which consists of Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, will have the fewest weekly sailings available in 2025, making it the smallest alliance. Now, all eyes will be on how seamlessly this alliance shuffle goes. More than four months have passed since the carriers announced their new alliance networks, according to analysts at Copenhagen-based Sea-Intelligence, who contend that they should have had enough time to get ready for a seamless transfer to their new networks.
