The Japanese shipping alliance ONE, number 6 in the global market behind Hapag-Lloyd, plans to strengthen its presence in South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa with a new regional headquarters in Dubai.
Ocean Network Express (ONE) describes the opening, or rather the move from Singapore, as a “strategic move” aimed at accelerating growth and expanding its presence in the rapidly developing markets of the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and East Africa.
Ocean Network Express (ONE) was established on July 7, 2017, after the liner services of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K LINE), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) were merged. The new company operates from its global headquarters in Singapore and is supported by regional headquarters in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States and Brazil.
The West Asia regional headquarters office will serve as a central hub for ONE in the Indian subcontinent, Middle East, and East Africa. It will include key functions such as commercial operations, customer service, and digitalisation. It will also house a team dedicated to developing regional trade partnerships and new business opportunities in the region.
Sundeep Sibal was appointed Regional Director with effect from 1 April. He joined ONE in 2018 as Head of Transpacific and Transatlantic Trades. In his current role as Head of Global Commercial & Service Management, he has led the transformation of Global Sales & Service. Previously, he was responsible for MOL’s regional operations in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Like NYK and K Line, MOL is one of ONE’s three shareholders.
ONE moves regional hub from Singapore to Dubai
CEO Jeremy Nixon said today: “The Middle East, Indian subcontinent and East Africa have increasingly become important growth markets for us, both for our inter-regional and ocean customers. It is, therefore, only fitting that we are now moving regional oversight of this region from Singapore to Dubai and establishing a new regional headquarters closer to these key markets.”
ONE, a member of “THE Alliance”, which also includes Hapag-Lloyd until the launch of the “Gemini” cooperation with Maersk, says it operates more than 220 ships for an international network with over 170 services to 120 countries. The industry service Alphaliner ranks ONE sixth in international competition with 1.8 million TEU and a 6.3% market share.
In 2024, the carrier expects to launch several new services, including the West India-North America (WIN) service, the Indian Ocean-Mediterranean (IOM) service and an expanded intra-Asian route network.
