The 2M Alliance cuts down Asia-Europe shipping services significantly

Maersk and MSC - the world's two largest shipping lines and the two main partners of the 2M alliance - have made sharp cuts in services on Asia-Europe shipping routes due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The new cuts were made due to reduced demand in Western consumer markets, not because of supply disruptions in China that forced carriers to cut dozens of trains in February and March.

The new cuts include suspending 2M AE20 / Dragon and AE2 / Swan services for the second quarter of 2020, starting with MSC Venice and MSC Sixin trains. MSC Sixin is one of MSC's new megamax-24 super container vessels, the largest of the 23,500-23,700 TEU class each; In general, ULCV (Ultra Large Container Vessel) vessels are economically efficient at scale when fully loaded.

Stopping the two services eliminates about a fifth of the capacity on the service, according to Danish shipping consulting firm Sea-Intelligence. "Ships canceled from other services may be announced in the coming weeks, depending on market demand. We will notify you further," MSC said in a statement.

Other transport alliances have not announced a cut at the same time, but Sea-Intelligence is expected to cut even more from competitors Ocean Alliance (Ocean Alliance) and THE Alliance (THE Alliance). Analysts expect the container shipping industry to shrink this year due to stringent public health measures and associated challenges in Western consumer economies.

Phaata (Source The Maritime Executive)

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