The shock wave following the breakdown of the agreement between the two world leaders MSC and Maersk in the maritime transport of containers continues to spread. This time, the transatlantic, a trade often flatter than choppy, is the subject of a new alliance with the CMA CGM group. Far from impressing MSC. Solo, duo, trio or quartet, Le Havre is well served.
Yet another response following the explosion/recomposition of alliances which forces carriers to restructure their network in order to maintain coverage and frequency. The exit of MSC, powerful enough to free itself from any dependence, from its partnership with Maersk remains the epicenter of the earthquake. Since then, surface waves have been spreading. The break between the two world leaders pushed the Danish shipowner to get closer to the German carrier Hapag-Lloyd to form the new Gemini (February 2025). In doing so, the latter withdrew from the consortium (THE Alliance) that it formed with the Japanese ONE, the South Korean HMM and the Taiwanese Yang Ming. The loss of the world’s fifth largest shipowner forced them to negotiate with MSC to secure their slots on the Asia-Europe trade, where the group’s market shares are ten points apart from the two major competing alliances.
By signing with MSC, the future Premier Alliance (new name of THE Alliance without Hapag-Lloyd) has carried out a great operation. The agreement will allow them to line up nine weekly services on the capital line of the East-West lines (compared to four currently by THE Alliance). It thus partially addresses the weaknesses of the trio knowing that the Asia-Europe trade is a greedy line: 12 ships of 18 to 19,000 TEU would be necessary for a single service via the Suez Canal (except in exceptional circumstances). However, within The Alliance, HMM and ONE each have 12 units of this size, enough to fill a single office.
Transatlantic, weak link
Comfortable on the Asia-Europe line thanks to MSC, the members of the future Ex-THE Alliance are in even greater difficulty between Europe and North America, pushing them to contract outside of themselves. The group (260 ships totaling 3.3 MEVP) only holds a 2.9% market share on this line in terms of capacity. In other words, a very weak link.
The latest ricochet in the anaphora, ONE, established as leader of the group after the departure of Hapag-Lloyd, has its back by concluding a transatlantic VSA with Ocean Alliance, the movement formed by CMA CGM, Cosco/OOCL, Evergreen. Remaining sheltered from the big bang, the largest network, in terms of deployed capacity with 353 container ships and 4.62 MEVP, even had the luxury of renewing, before the 2027 deadline, their operational cooperation until 2032. The extension of the partnership had a priori closed the door to any major reshuffle while nevertheless leaving open the possibility of the Taiwanese carrier Wan Hai joining them. Which does not exclude partial cooperation.
Ocean Network Express (ONE) – a company which did not exist in this form when THE Alliance was formed in 2017 (it is the result of the merger of the container activities of the three Japanese carriers MOL, NYK and K-Line) –, and its three new partners will jointly operate three loops between Northern Europe, the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico with a total of eighteen vessels. The Normandy port is on the agenda for two of them (see details below).
The service by the Singapore carrier of the American west coast (AL5 which serves Le Havre) is not part of the agreement. On the other hand, it allows HMM, another member of THE Alliance, to make its big return to the transatlantic, from where it has been absent since 2018. The South Korean carrier will relaunch a transatlantic route called TA1 (Transatlantic 1) at the beginning of February, until ‘to the West Coast, via Panama, and with Le Havre also served. TA1 will be operated in collaboration with ONE (AL5), the sole supplier of vessels on this service. The rotation, operated by ten ships of 4,920 to 5,000 TEU, will however be shortened since Halifax (in both directions), Port Everglades (towards the West) and Saint John in Canada (towards the East) will not be more served. However, a new stopover in Miami will be added.
The transatlantic, the object of all attention
The trade, more often flat than subject to major surges except when it serves as a garage for underemployed ships at peak overcapacity, has been plagued by upheavals since September. The strike of dockworkers in East American ports, lifted on the third day thanks to an agreement on a 62% salary increase over six years and the extension of the current framework contract until January 15, 2025 in order to negotiate all the other outstanding issues (gantry automation), has tightened the offer in this market to limited maritime alternatives. Freight rates have been firm there for several weeks due to strong demand but also undoubtedly maintained by the prospect of a resumption of social movement in the 36 ports which handle between 40 and 50% of American containerized traffic. Which is not excluded given the progress of the negotiations. Prices on these destinations are also inflated by exceptional surcharges imposed by the companies and ranging between $400 and $3,000 per container. MSC, for example, announced an FAK rate of $6,000 per 40-foot container from October 1.
Overlapping MSC
The world leader’s future transatlantic network will be much denser than 2M’s coverage because it will include eleven loops from February 1, once the alliance with Maersk is dissolved, compared to five currently: three linking Northern Europe and two linking the Mediterranean. The duo currently places the highest capacity there, between them, 47.1%, compared to 37.2% for Ocean, 2.9% for THE Alliance and 9.2% for carriers operating independently.
One of the loops will serve Le Havre (Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Le Havre, Charleston, Baltimore, New York and return to Bremerhaven). The MSC proposal gives pride of place to Canada (Montreal and Halifax). A new weekly line operated in four weeks will notably call at Le Havre, the fourth port served behind Zeebrugge, Antwerp and London-Gateway. It complements the Montreal Express 1, operated jointly with Hapag-Lloyd and OOCL in five weeks departing from Antwerp and with a stopover in Le Havre.
Adeline Descamps
VSA Transatlantique Ocean Alliance + ONE: Le Havre well served
ONE and its three new partners will jointly operate three loops between Northern Europe, the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico with a total of eighteen vessels. According to Alphaliner data, a line will run in six weeks with three ships supplied by Cosco/OOCL, two by CMA CGM and one by Evergreen between the ports of the North European range (Southampton, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Le Havre) and East American ports (New York, Norfolk, Baltimore) with return to the same British port. The new rotation actually replaces CMA CGM’s Liberty Bridge.
ONE will contribute, with four of its container ships so recognizable by their “cherry blossom” color, to the South Atlantic service which makes Le Havre the first and last port of call five weeks apart (Le Havre, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Charleston, Savannah, Le Havre). This new service, operated with 5 vessels in total (5,800 TEU), will essentially be co-loaded by ONE and CMA CGM (1,700 TEU each).
The last rotation, which takes place without Le Havre and leaves from Southampton to reach the Gulf of Mexico (Veracruz, Altamira, Houston, New Orleans) is a line creation. The French shipowner is the largest supplier with five units. The service replaces Ocean Alliance’s TAT3, marketed Victory Bridge by CMA CGM. Yang Ming, ONE’s partner in the new Premier Alliance, will charter slots for it.
A.D.
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