US FMC ‘stops the clock’ on the Ocean Alliance

Copyright: Port of LA

It appears it might not be plain sailing for one of the new mega east-west vessel-sharing alliances to appease the regulators.

The Ocean Alliance, comprising CMA CGM (including APL), Cosco, Evergreen and OOCL, needs regulatory approval from the Chinese, the EU and the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).

It is highly unlikely that Beijing will throw up any obstacles, since it has a vested interest in its newly merged container carriers, and EU approval is basically self-regulating.

However, the FMC in the past insisted on the 2M alliance changing “the language” of its proposal relating to its negotiations with service providers, and it seems that the Ocean Alliance’s application is receiving the same treatment.