News / THEA's ONE and Yang Ming set on contrasting courses for growth

Photo: Nihon Shipyard Co

THE Alliance members ONE and Yang Ming appear to be adopting different growth strategies ahead of the departure of Hapag-Lloyd next February, when the German carrier will partner with Maersk in the new Gemini alliance.

The Japanese carrier’s ONE2030 main business strategy last week highlighted a plan to invest $25bn in its container shipping business and target a fleet expansion from the current 1.8m teu to 3m teu over the six-year period.

In terms of current rankings, a two-thirds expansion of ONE’s fleet would propel the carrier above Hapag-Lloyd to become the fifth-largest global container line.

And ONE is already part of the way to achieving its growth aspiration, it already has orders for 41 vessels, with a capacity of 520,000 teu, and there are a consistent rumours in the market of imminent announcements of more orders.

Maritime consultant Alphaliner said ONE’s new business plan “marks an ambitious expansion drive” for a carrier which, hitherto, has only grown its capacity by 4% since its formation from the container business consolidation of K Line, MOL and NYK in 2017.

The shock departure of Hapag from THEA took ONE by surprise, in fact sources since have told The Loadstar that, initially, its senior managers refused to believe it.

Nevertheless, ONE’s “comfortable” relationship with Hapag within THEA may, arguably, have been holding it back. Indeed, since the Gemini announcement, ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon has been especially bullish about the carrier’s growth strategy post-Hapag.

At the S&P Global TPM24 conference in Long Beach, California, this month, Mr Nixon argued that there would be a “positive impact” from the 2025 consortia changes.

In the interim, the CEO made it clear, ONE would not wait for the departure of Hapag before launching more new independent east-west services outside THEA.

And in regard to a possible replacement carrier joining THEA next year, Mr Nixon teased that there were “a number of discussions under way”, and that by early April there would be an update on their progress.

Fuelling speculation of a potential new vessel-sharing partner – within or independent of THEA – was ONE’s recently announced joint transpacific service with Wan Hai. This will see the Taiwanese carrier cooperate with ONE on its revamped AA3 service (Asia Pacific 1 loop for ONE), with the Japanese line supplying two 13,000-type teu vessels to Wan Hai’s five 13,000 teu ships.

Meanwhile, in contrast to the dynamic post-Hapag stance of ONE, its THEA partner Yang Ming has adopted a much more conservative approach to future growth.

The Loadstar reported last week on Yang Ming’s newbuilding plans, which are understood to include potential orders for eight 8,000 teu and six 1,900 teu vessels.

However, the carrier issued a statement today concerning “media reports regarding fleet renewal plans”, saying various press articles on its capex planning were “purely the media’s own speculation”.

Yang Ming’s net profit plummeted to $153m in 2023, compared with $6.1bn the year before, while ONE said it was expecting to post a profit of $856m for its financial year ending 31 March, including a final-quarter profit of $239m, compared with the huge $15bn the year before.