News / Shippers squeezing margins 'pushed carriers toward bigger ships and alliances'

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Container shipping lines yesterday shrugged off accusations that bigger ships and alliances would lead to less choice and less supply chain resilience, and argued that instead, shippers had brought these changes upon themselves.

Olaf Merk, of the International Transport Forum, explained to delegates at Transport Logistic in Munich how the recent changes in the liner industry could lead to a negative outcome for the supply chain.

“There is a pathway where bigger ships and vertical integration give rise to the concentration of ports and ...