ALLIANCES -ONE YEAR ON

摘要

In March 2013, I wrote in Containerisation International that, "the creation of alliances by vessel owners, often beyond the reach of any nation's regulatory authority, has created an attitude of 'carrier globalism' - meaning that certain operators want to take on a sense of influence in the domestic maritime affairs of countries or even exert authority equal to or higher than the nation that allows their ships to call at its ports." We are now two years beyond that piece, a year past the demise of P3, which some observers attributed to carrier globalism, as well as almost a year past the creation of the fourth major alliance. In this time period, we've seen three major events by which we can now measure the 2M, CKYHE, C6, and Ocean Three alliances. First, in Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports we saw severe congestion that took place in late autumn and early winter of 2014/2015. By all accounts, alliances did not cover themselves in glory servicing the 13 terminals in the two ports. The stowage, port rotation, unloading, equipment shortage, and terminal related activities of alliance members created a nightmare for all parties, especially shippers.