Carriers suspend U.S./Australasia conference

Carriers suspend U.S./Australasia conference    The carriers of the United States Australasia Agreement have suspended the conference role of their agreement until Dec. 31.
   In a notice to the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, they said that they had amended their cooperative agreement, which would now permit “certain limited activities to continue.”
   A year ago, the carriers of the United States Australasia Agreement already ended the revenue pool mechanim of the agreement.
   The United States Australasia Agreement includes as members most of the carriers in the direct trade between the two regions. Its carrier members are: P&O Nedlloyd; Australia-New Zealand Direct Line and Contship Containerlines, both owned by CP Ships; Hamburg Sud, the parent company of Columbus Line; Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines; and CMA CGM.
   Despite the suspension of the conference, a discussion agreement called the United States Australasia Discussion Agreement continues to operate in the trade.
   The restructuring of the carrier agreements in the U.S./Australasia trade replicates the post-Ocean Shipping Reform Act industry trend towards looser carrier agreements, such as discussion agreements, and away from conferences. According to the FMC, there were some 70 conferences before OSRA, as compared to less than 20 now.
   In a separate development, Contship and P&O Nedlloyd have notified the FMC of a revision to their vessel-sharing agreement in the U.S./Australasia trade. The modification revises the sailing schedule for their 10-ship “Eastabout” service, and eliminates calls at the ports of New York and
Fremantle, Australia.