Mario Cordero of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) says that there could be a link between the four major global alliances that exist in the container shipping industry today and the problems with congested ports, ShippingWatch reports.
“Our perspective number 1 concerns the impact of the alliances, even though the industry this year has primarily been challenged by low rates and overcapacity,” said Cordero.
“We continue to monitor the alliances and their compliance with the VSAs (vessel sharing agreements), and we’ll also be discussing this at the meeting in Brussels. As such, it’s an important benefit to us all that we meet frequently, so that we can exchange experiences about a global industry.
“From FMC’s perspective, it is an important topic how to handle the challenge of congestion in ports.”
Cordero’s co-commissioner at the FMC, Michael Khouri, commented on the link between the four major global container alliances and the problems with congested ports, saying, “we have received private reports and seen a number of stories in the press regarding the operations of the four alliances – G6, CKYHE, Ocean Three and 2M – and that these operations could be a contributing factor to the chronic congestion at U.S. West Coast ports and maybe other port facilities as well.”
