G6 Alliance will extend its cooperation beyond the Asia-to-Europe trades to the Asia-to-East Coast of the United States.
Several publications - Alphaliner, DynaLiners, American Journal of Transportation, PR News Service and the Hong Kong Shipping Gazette - have all had stories in recent days about the expansion.
The six container liner companies that participate in the G6 alliance are the three members of the "New World Alliance" - APL, MOL and Hyundai Merchant Marine, and the three members of the Grand Alliance - Hapag-Lloyd, NYK, and OOCL.
Each of those alliances have a trans-Suez service between Asia and the United States, and each have a three services that use the Panama Canal.
Dynamar and PR New Service reported the two alliances will cooperate on the trans-Suez services, the New World Alliance's SZX and the Grand Alliance's AEX and eventually merge them.
But sources said the cooperation may be broader and also involve all-water services moving between Asia and the U.S. East Coast, including those that transit the Panama Canal.
Several reports said the change will occur in May.
At the Textile and Apparel Importer Trade and Transportation Conference held in New York, Gene Seroka, president of APL Americas, noted significant financial losses by carriers as one of the factors that has driven the creation of "larger, more broad alliances to offer customers increased frequency of sailings, additional ports of calls, and regularity of service."
In addition to the G6 alliance, Seroka noted cooperation by Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM, as well as Evergreen, the CHKY Alliance, China Shipping and Zim.
American Shipper