SIMIC

THE termination of the 2M partnership is set to trigger changes in the liner market, with Alphaliner predicting that Ocean Alliance will emerge as the world's largest mega alliance, reports London's Riviera Maritime Media.

The consultancy stated that based on the order books of its members, the Ocean Alliance, already the world's largest carrier grouping in terms of deployed capacity, is forecast to "witness a massive growth in the coming years."



"This expansion might prompt regulators to re-evaluate and redefine how big alliances will be allowed to become. So far, these authorities have never publicly indicated a maximum permissible market share for carrier alliances," said Alphaliner.



Comprising CMA CGM, Cosco, Evergreen, and OOCL, the Ocean Alliance operates a fleet of 303 containerships with a combined capacity of 4.22 million TEU.



Notably, Ocean Alliance surpasses both the 2M and THE Alliance (consisting of Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, Yang Ming, and HMM), which each have a capacity of 3.1 million TEU.



According to Alphaliner's data, the Ocean Alliance currently holds a 34 per cent market share in deployed fleet capacity on the Asia-Europe trade route and a 35 per cent share on Asia-North America routes.



These percentages are projected to increase further, driven by a combined order book of nearly 2.38 million TEU scheduled for delivery from 2024 onward.