Two of the world’s largest container shipping lines, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and Maersk A/S, an entity under A.P. Moller – Maersk have announced that they are dissolving the 2M alliance.
The shipping companies said they have mutually agreed to terminate the alliance, effective in January 2025.
2M is a container shipping line vessel sharing agreement.
Maersk and MSC introduced the 2M alliance in 2015 to cope with an oversupply of ships and weak demand, and to ensure competitive and cost-efficient operations from Asia to Europe, as well as Transatlantic and Transpacific trades.
Under the agreement, the alliance has a minimum term of 10 years with a 2-year notice period of termination.
The shipping companies announced the termination of 2M through a joint statement from CEO Vincent Clerc of A. P. Moller – Maersk, and CEO Soren Toft of MSC.
“MSC and Maersk recognise that much has changed since the two companies signed the 10-year agreement in 2015,” Clerc and Toft said.
“Discontinuing the 2M alliance paves the way for both companies to continue to pursue their individual strategies,” they said.
“We have very much appreciated the partnership and look forward to a continued strong collaboration throughout the remainder of the agreement period,” they said.
“We remain fully committed to delivering on the 2M alliance’s services to customers of MSC and Maersk.”
The CEOs emphasised that the 25th January announcement has no immediate impact on the services provided to customers using the 2M trades.
“Each company’s customer teams will communicate with their respective clients to support during, and beyond, the phase-out of the 2M alliance,” they concluded.
In a customer advisory, Maersk said that since 2M was formed in 2015, the company’s strategy has changed, as have the needs of their customers.
“Maersk wants to accelerate becoming an integrated provider of logistics, connecting and simplifying our customers’ supply chains,” Maersk said.
“Discontinuing the 2M alliance paves the way for Maersk to efficiently focus on our integrator strategy to meet the evolving needs of our customers, including reliability, flexibility and sustainability,” the company said.
MSC said in a statement that “we continue to strengthen and modernise our fleet, providing us with the scale we need for the most comprehensive ocean and short-sea shipping network in the market.”
Source: Maersk and MSC media release