2M needs no approval from China, Maersk says Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. do not require regulatory approval from China for their proposed “2M” vessel sharing agreement on the east-west trades, Maersk Line said today. Since the agreement is only a vessel-sharing agreement and not a full-fledged alliance with its own joint vessel operations center, the world’s two largest container lines only have to file the agreement with the Ministry of Transport and will avoid the Ministry of Commerce, which in June rejected the proposed P3 Network alliance involving Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM. “The requirement with China is that we file with MOT, and there are no additional requirements,” said Maersk Line spokesman Michael Storgaard. “I doesn’t mean the authorities won’t come back and ask questions and keep an eye on things, but that’s it.” Maersk and MSC filed with the MOT in July, he said. He added no filing is required for the VSA to receive European Union approval. U.S. approval by the Federal Maritime Commission is required, and the carriers will be filing with the agency “within a couple of weeks.” According to Maersk and MSC, the 2M will involve a total of 185 vessels with an estimated capacity of 2.1 million TEU, deployed on 21 strings, with Maersk supplying 55 percent of the capacity and 45 percent coming from MSC. JOC NEWS - AUG 19 2014
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 23:12:00 +0000
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