3 May 2024 (Lloyd's List) - SECURING slot sharing agreements with rival carriers is key for The Alliance members to fill the capacity gap left by Hapag-Lloyd’s impending exit, according to NYK Line president and chief executive Takaya Soga.
As one of the three Japanese parent companies, NYK has a 38% stake in Ocean Network Express, which will become the largest member in the partnership after the German container line departs next year to join Maersk.
The remaining two member carriers in The Alliance are South Korea’s HMM and Taiwan’s Yang Ming.
“Of course, the total service capacity will be affected by Hapag-Lloyd’s departure, but other shipping lines have a lot of additional space, and we can talk with them,” Soga told Lloyd’s List in an interview.
The aim is not to form a consortium or alliance, but to reach vessel sharing agreements on particular trade lanes to largely maintain the overall service level and frequency, he explained.
“I understand that ONE has been talking with those potential shipping lines about that,” he added.
Earlier this year, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced the formation of a new alliance, the Gemini Corporation, sparking concerns over the future of The Alliance — already the smallest of the existing three container shipping groupings.
Some co-operative agreements have been announced, as part of a broader move by member carriers to strengthen their respective networks while maintaining The Alliance commitments, without the addition of a new entrant.
For example, ONE is already teaming up with Wan Hai Lines on its independent new Asia Pacific 1 (AP1) service between Asia and the US west coast, in addition to the ones provided with alliance partners.
In total, it will deploy 16 core weekly transpacific services from February 2025.
“The core products will include sufficient sea speed buffers and are designed so that the impact of Hapag-Lloyd’s departure in 2025 will have a minimal impact on ONE’s network and customers over the post-Chinese New Year disengagement period,” said chief executive Jeremy Nixon in late March.
That was followed by the first-ever agreement reached between HMM and smaller domestic rival SM Lines this week to swap slots on two transpacific services expected to start from June 2024.
Bringing a new member to The Alliance remains an option, said Soga. “But at the moment it is not easy to do so.”
