Container lines AP Moller-Maersk and MSC are set to end their 2M alliance in two years. The 2M alliance will cease to exist starting from January 2025, MSC said in an emailed statement Wednesday, according to Ship and Bunker.
They report that the alliance was launched in 2015 and was one of the top three container shipping groupings. Container market analysts suggest that Maersk may now need to hire more vessels to maintain its capacity after the ship-sharing agreement ends.
With Maersk’s commitment to order only ships capable of running on zero-carbon fuels from now on, this could accelerate the company’s shift to methanol-fuelled ships. “The 2M alliance has played a key role in supporting the container shipping industry over the past eight years,” MSC CEO Soren Toft said in the statement, the article reports.
“Today at MSC, we continue to strengthen and modernize our fleet, giving us the scale we need for the most comprehensive short sea and ocean shipping network on the market.” We remain focused on providing high-quality personal service to a wide range of customers as we continue to develop freight forwarding solutions across the oceans and beyond, says Ship and Bunker.
They conclude that “MSC overtook Maersk as the world’s largest container line by capacity early last year. MSC currently has a capacity of 4.6 million TEUs versus Maersk’s 4.2 million TEUs.
Source: Ship and Bunker
