Is something brewing? A new service from One and Wan Hai is fueling speculation that the Taiwanese shipping company could replace Hapag-Lloyd in “THE Alliance”.
As is well known, the liner shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is joining forces with Maersk in the new Gemini Cooperation in February next year. Since the exit was announced, there has been speculation as to what the three partners left behind by the Hamburg-based company will do in future. A service that is now to be established by ONE (Singapore) and Wan Hai (Taiwan) could provide an indication of how things could continue. [ds_preview]
According to a report by the industry service Alphaliner, ONE and Wan Hai Lines are planning to launch a new joint transpacific service at the end of April/beginning of May, which will connect Vietnam, China and Taiwan with the US West Coast in a total of 56 days’ travel time. A corresponding vessel-sharing agreement has already been submitted to the US competition authority FMC.
Wan Hai replaces own transpacific service
Wan Hai intends to deploy five vessels, with ONE providing two additional units. The capacity ranges from 5,500 TEU to 14,000 TEU. The agreement will initially apply for a minimum term of 12 months.
Hapag-Lloyd currently provides a good 800,000 TEU of the total capacity of “THE Alliance“, which corresponds to a share of 26%. It is not yet clear whether the remaining ONE, HMM and Yang Ming will continue as a trio in future or look for a new partner.
Wan Hai is No. 11 in global container shipping with a fleet capacity of 480,000 TEU and newbuilding orders of over 111,000 TEU. Until now, Taiwan’s second-largest shipping company (after Yang Ming, No. 9, 708,000 TEU) has operated independently of all three major alliances. Its fleet includes 18 Neo-Panamax ships with a total of 242,000 TEU, which would fit in well with the major services.
Quo vadis container shipping?
What the alliance structure will look like in the future is a much-discussed topic in the industry. In the new episode of the HANSA PODCAST, Jan Tiedemann, chief analyst at the industry service Alphaliner, takes a detailed and in-depth look at the framework conditions, the consequences of the “Gemini” cooperation between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk and real or perceived competition law concerns.
He also talks about concerns about overcapacity in view of the large newbuilding order book, the possible uses of relatively old ships, ship designs and sizes, the relationship between tramp shipowners and liner shipping companies and the growth trajectory of industry leader MSC.
Listen to the full episode here! https://hansa-online.de/hansa-podcast/
