carrier alliances

What would happen if ocean freight carrier alliances were brought to an end?

Many shippers would cheer as they're currently seeking to make such an outcome a reality. But would it [...]

There is so much potential for what blockchain technology can bring to the international shipping industry. So much potential, in fact, there's a fight for who can successfully bring blockchain [...]

"We're all going to go bust," MOL President and CEO Junichiro Ikeda said to the Financial Times about the near future of ocean carriers in the international shipping industry.

For [...]

Fuel costs have significantly increased this year, causing many carriers to post first-quarter losses for 2018.

At least, carriers are saying higher fuel bunker prices are the cause [...]

Last month, Maersk said it expects carrier competition to shrink to only three global companies. It’s possible that Maersk is wrong, but it’s hard not to take the words and [...]

In light of digital technologies, big data, and the Internet of Things–yes, the 4th Industrial Revolution–the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company imagined what [...]

Maersk is the largest carrier by capacity in international shipping and clearly the leader of the industry. We’ve talked about this before in Universal Cargo’s blog: The moves Maersk [...]

THE Alliance members are “falling further behind in the megamax vessel stakes,” Alphaliner was quoted as saying in an article by Mike Wackett in the Loadstar. The headlining point of [...]

It has been a dark time for ocean carriers. Investing heavily in megaships–ships so large they can destroy entire planets–carriers created capacity greatly surpassing disappointing [...]

On Sunday (July 9th, 2017), Cosco Shipping Holdings Co., Ltd. (Cosco); Shanghai International Port Group Co., Ltd (SIPG); and Orient Overseas International Limited (OOIL) announced jointly that [...]

Now that international shipping is dominated by three carrier alliances, the 2M, OCEAN Alliance, and THE Alliance, many shippers are worried about freight rate collusion between the shipping [...]

$66 million seems like a lot of money. Imagine losing that much in 3 months. For most of us, that’s hard to imagine because we’ve never even seen $1 million let alone $66 million. [...]

The “Tripartite Agreement” is what it was called–an agreement between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd (K Line), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) that included [...]

Despite the reshuffling of ocean carriers into just three alliances–the 2M, Ocean Alliance, and THE Alliance–being described as a disaster, U.S. shippers have seen little impact on [...]

Shippers were worried about potential delays or disruptions that April first’s carrier alliance reshuffle might bring. It turns out, those fears were well founded. Major congestion is [...]

As of today (March 30, 2017), the Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) approval of the cooperation agreement between Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and the 2M alliance members, Maersk and MSC [...]

Shippers are worried about more than just their March Madness brackets right now. What has them so worried? The risk of next month’s big carrier alliance reshuffle causing freight [...]

Carriers could finally get some freight rate stability going in 2017. Traditionally, freight rates are a very volatile thing in the international shipping industry. In the last few years, [...]

With all the alliances of carriers in the international shipping industry, it was inevitable that ports and terminals would begin forging alliances too. A little less than a month ago, we posted [...]

This is it! Universal Cargo’s last blog of 2016. What better way to close out the year than with a look back on the top international shipping stories of 2016. Below you’ll find a [...]