French, Asian shipping giants extend alliance

The operational alliance of CMA CGM, Cosco, Evergreen and OOCL will be until 31 March 2032

PARIS, France (AFP) — Shipping giants CMA CGM of France, China’s Cosco Shipping, Taiwan’s Evergreen and Hong Kong-based OOCL have announced they were extending their operational alliance, the sector’s biggest, to 2032.

CMA CGM, the world’s third biggest shipping company, said the Ocean Alliance, in place since 2017, enables its members to provide fast transit times and a broad range of ports, Agence France-Presse reports.

The partnership covers the seven main East-West routes linking Asia with northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the coasts of North America.

The current agreement was due to end in 2027.

“The decision to extend our cooperation for at least five more years underlines our commitment to meeting the needs of our customers and building even more secure, reliable and sustainable supply chains,” CMA CGM chief executive Rodolphe Saade said.

Evergreen said the extension would allow alliance members to “continue providing customers with stable and high-quality shipping services on the same cooperative basis.”

Cosco Shipping said the documents signed by the companies extend the alliance until 31 March 2032.

“We are convinced that as a sustainable alliance, we can provide continuous high-quality transportation to our customers and contribute to a stable supply chain,” the Chinese group said.

Paul Tourret, director of France’s Higher Institute of Maritime Economics, said such alliances are similar to code-sharing agreements between airlines.

These enable a carrier to sell tickets on a flight operated by another company.

In January, Danish group Maersk, the world’s second biggest shipping company, announced a cooperation agreement with Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd that will comprise a fleet pool of nearly 300 vessels with a combined capacity of 3.4 million containers.

The partnership will start in February 2025, a month after Maersk’s alliance with the sector’s biggest player, the Italo-Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company, ends.

MSC decided last year to end its cooperation with Maersk.

Hapag-Lloyd has ended its own alliance with South Korea’s HMM and Japanese firm ONE.