THE Alliance's biggest liner Hapag-Lloyd has signed a slot charter deal with rival 2M alliance partners Maersk and MSC to start in March, reports London's Loadstar.
The revised network features five Asia-North Europe loops, which will include the deployment of two 20,000-plus TEU ships supplied by HMM.
'The addition of these services will enable Hapag-Lloyd to offer an even higher frequency of weekly departures and more routing options, as well as to directly serve additional ports with high schedule reliability,' said a company statement.
News came just a day after THE Alliance unveiled its expanded service network incorporating South Korean carrier HMM as a new partner from April. Details of the 2M loops or services it would use would be communicated 'in the upcoming weeks'.
But the crossover deal may undermine the cause of carriers in getting back their Block Exemption Regulation (BER), which is due to expire in April.
The European Commission has proposed that the BER, which allows carriers to participate in operational alliances with a market share of up to 30 per cent on trades serving the EU, be extended until 2024. But shippers oppose the EC's decision to extend the BER saying ignores their views.
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The revised network features five Asia-North Europe loops, which will include the deployment of two 20,000-plus TEU ships supplied by HMM.
'The addition of these services will enable Hapag-Lloyd to offer an even higher frequency of weekly departures and more routing options, as well as to directly serve additional ports with high schedule reliability,' said a company statement.
News came just a day after THE Alliance unveiled its expanded service network incorporating South Korean carrier HMM as a new partner from April. Details of the 2M loops or services it would use would be communicated 'in the upcoming weeks'.
But the crossover deal may undermine the cause of carriers in getting back their Block Exemption Regulation (BER), which is due to expire in April.
The European Commission has proposed that the BER, which allows carriers to participate in operational alliances with a market share of up to 30 per cent on trades serving the EU, be extended until 2024. But shippers oppose the EC's decision to extend the BER saying ignores their views.
WORLD SHIPPING