Major Turmoil from Shipping Line Alliances: Freight Rates and Waiting Times Soar
The global container shipping industry is currently facing its most disruptive phase in five decades. After freight rates fell to historic lows in 2016 due to sluggish global trade and massive overcapacity, shipping lines posted heavy lossesacross the board. Now, the landscape has changed dramatically, creating new instability and rising tensions.
Wave of Mergers and Collapses
The industry hit a crisis point when South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping collapsed.
Major mergers and acquisitions followed:
Cosco and China Shipping (state-owned) merged
CMA CGM acquired Singapore’s NOL/APL
MOL, NYK, and K-Line (Japan) merged
Hapag-Lloyd and UASC are finalizing their merger
New Alliances Reshuffle the Market
Due to unsustainable losses (e.g., NYK lost $2B, MOL $1.5B, K-Line $500M in H1 2016), carriers began sharing vessel space more extensively to cut costs. This resulted in a major realignment of global alliances, effective April 1, 2017:
2M Alliance: Maersk + MSC
THE Alliance: Hapag-Lloyd/UASC, NYK, MOL, K-Line, Yang Ming
Ocean Alliance: Evergreen, Cosco, CMA CGM, OOCL
These alliances published new sailing schedules, which disrupted container capacity and created volatility across shipping lanes.
Capacity Crunch and Price Spikes
The collapse of Hanjin reduced available space, particularly on the Europe–Asia route.
Shippers are now more cautious about choosing carriers, fearing service interruptions.
Exporters from the Netherlands to Asia face:
Exploding freight costs
Waiting times over six weeks
Imports from Asia are also affected, but to a lesser extent.
Companies are now fighting for space on ships, sometimes at any cost.
Allegations of Price-Fixing
Despite an 8% export increase in February 2017 (the highest in nearly six years), this does not explain the dramatic surge in freight rates. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) suspects illegal price collusion among top carriers.
DOJ has summoned Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and others
Investigators have requested internal documents
No official comment from the DOJ so far
Then vs. Now: Price Explosion
In early 2016, shipping a container from Rotterdam to Shanghai cost $200
Today, prices have increased more than tenfold
Carriers insist that high freight rates are essential for survival and long-term stability.
Conclusion
For now, Dutch exporters and importers are bearing the brunt of the market’s chaos. While supply and demand may eventually stabilize, the timeline remains uncertain—especially with investigations underway and competition law concerns rising.