HANJIN, COSCO, “K” LINE, YANGMING CONTINUE ALLIANCE TALKS

HANJIN, COSCO, “K” LINE, YANGMING CONTINUE ALLIANCE TALKS

HANJIN, COSCO, “K” LINE, YANGMING CONTINUE ALLIANCE TALKS

   Hanjin Shipping, COSCO Container Lines, “K” Line and Yang Ming Marine are continuing to discuss the future cooperation between their respective liner activities announced in September.
   The global alliance plans are still being discussed at senior level by the four carriers, said Ole A. Sweedlund, deputy managing director in North America at Hanjin.
   Sweedlund said that he expects an agreement to be reached in the new year.
   The managements of the four Asian carriers decided on Sept. 20 to cooperate, with the ultimate goal of establishing an alliance based on their worldwide networks. In the talks, Hanjin represents its subsidiary Senator Lines.
   The large alliance is expected to replace the former cooperative grouping comprising COSCO, “K” Line and Yang Ming, and will be the world’s second largest global alliance in terms of carriers’ total containership fleet capacity.
   The carriers will also have to notify their new agreement to the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission and the European Commission.