2M Alliance, HMM sign strategic cooperation agreement

South Korean ocean carrier Hyundai Merchant Marine said it expects to save costs and boost competitiveness through the “2M+H Strategic Cooperation,” which was signed Wednesday in Sausalito, Calif.    Executives from Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement Wednesday on the major East-West trade lanes.
   Maersk Line CEO Søren Skou, MSC CEO Diego Aponte and HMM CEO Chang-Keun Yoo signed the formal contract in Sausalito, Calif., creating the “2M+H Strategic Cooperation.”
   The three carriers first announced they had agreed to a new strategic cooperation back in December.
   HMM said it expects to save costs and boost its competitiveness on East-West trades through the strategic cooperation.
   “We believe that all three partners will strengthen competitiveness through this strategic cooperation,” Yoo said. “HMM can provide a diverse range of services and acquire a more stable basis of profit improvement by utilizing 2M’s competitive networks and mega vessels.”
   The 2M+H Strategic Cooperation includes slot exchanges on Asia-U.S. West Coast services, and slot purchases on services between Asia and the U.S. East Coast, Asia and North Europe, and Asia and the Mediterranean.
   HMM said under the agreement, it expects to increase its basic slot allocation by about 20 percent from its previous capacity when it was a member of the G6 Alliance.
   On services to the U.S. West Coast, its basic slot allocation is projected to surge 50 percent.
   HMM said it will operate three exclusive Asia-U.S. West Coast services – the PS1, the PS2 and the PN2 – which is one more service than when it was a member of the G6 Alliance.
  
   In regards to these three services:
     • The PS1 will commence April 1 using four 6,300-TEU ships and two 5,500-TEU ships with a rotation of Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Gwangyang, Pusan, Long Beach, Pusan, Gwangyang, Incheon and Qingdao;
     • The PS2 will commence April 1 using seven 6,800-TEU ships with a rotation of Laem Chabang, Vung Tau, Hong Kong, Yantian, Kaohsiung, Pusan, Los Angeles, Oakland, Pusan, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong and Laem Chabang;
     • And the PN2 will commence April 7 using five 4,600-TEU ships and one 5,500-TEU ship with a rotation of Hong Kong, Yantian, Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Pusan, Tacoma, Vancouver, Pusan, Gwangyang, Kaohsiung and Hong Kong.

   HMM is also involved in a separate alliance deal with Heung-A Shipping and Sinokor Merchant Marine on the intra-Asia trades, dubbed “The HMM+K2,” which allows HMM to have additional intra-Asia networks in Korea-Vietnam/Thailand, and Korea-Japan.