In a bid to quash rampant speculation about its future, the members of THE Alliance have issued a release today stressing that its operations will carry on as per normal for this year.
It has been a week since Hapag-Lloyd shocked its liner partners by ditching THE Alliance to form the Gemini Cooperation with Maersk, effective from February 2025, a move that leaves the remaining members of THE Alliance – HMM, Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Yang Ming – as members of a much diminished grouping with much conjecture about who they might try to coax to join them in the future.
“In response to recent developments surrounding THE Alliance, which includes member lines Hapag Lloyd, HMM, Yang Ming Marine Transport, and Ocean Network Express, we wish to emphasize our unwavering commitment to maintaining a robust cooperation throughout 2024, ensuring that the highest standards of cooperation and exceptional service are delivered to our stakeholders and the industry at large,” a release from the group stated today.
“THE Alliance members are in a jam and will be desperate to fill the Hapag-Lloyd void,” Simon Heaney, senior manager of container research at UK consultancy Drewry, told Splash last week.
Finding a suitable replacement and having zero leverage will prove challenging, he suggested. According to the reports published in splash247.com .
Lars Jensen, a former Maersk employee turned liner consultant with Vespucci Maritime, noted last week that the pressure is on ONE, HMM and Yang Ming to either lure a new partner out from Ocean Alliance or re-invent a new service concept.
