CMA CGM, Cosco Container Lines, Evergreen Line and Orient Overseas Container Lines (OOCL) signed a memorandum for establishment of Ocean Alliance. The new container shipping alliance is created in connection with merger of the Chinese Cosco and China Shipping, as well as leaving of APL from G6 Alliance, which is part from the CMA CGM’s acquisition agreement of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL). In accordance with the memorandum, alliance members will work together on all the key areas of transport, including the Asia-Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean Sea routes, Asia-Red Sea, Asia, Middle East, Transatlantic and Transpacific services, Asia-East Coast of North America.

Ocean Alliance will manage a fleet of about 350 container ships, which will operate 40 services, as 20 of them in direction Asia-Europe and Asia-USA. The new container shipping alliance will start operations in April 2017, but still waiting the agreement of the anti-trust regulators. The Ocean Alliance eventually will make room for Singapore’s NOL, which agreed to be bought by CMA CGM and waiting for the final approval of anti-trust authorities.

“This is a milestone agreement among four of the world’s leading container shipping lines”, said CMA CGM in official statement. “The move will have massive reverberations around existing container alliances forcing a period of shifting alliances”, adds the statement.

The establishment of new container shipping alliance will leave the G6 Alliance with only 4 members (Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, MOL and NYK) and CKYHE alliance with only 3 members (K ​​Line, Yang Ming Line and Hanjin Shipping).