Will Zim Join 2M?
Israeli carrier Zim Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) might join the 2M Alliance between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co., Alphaline said quoting industry sources.
This news followed the last week's news of South Korea’s Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), currently a member of the G6 Alliance, that it was in negotiations to join the 2M partnership.
2M alliance currently consists of Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC).
ZIM could join the enlarged 2M alongside HMM, according to the industry analyst’s sources “although the carriers involved have not confirmed the potential inclusion of a fourth carrier.”
Zim has a 3.3 percent share in the trans-Pacific route, Alphaliner said and that would be good synergy for 2M. Zim is the only major global container ship operator that has not officially joined any of the existing alliances or the new groupings that will begin next year.
The potential four carrier alliance (that Alphaliner dubs 2M++) would be mainly focussed on the transpacific route, with Alphaliner saying it would bring 2M++'s share to around 23 percent, compared to 40 percent for the upcoming "Ocean Alliance," and 34 percent for the future "THE Alliance."
However, sources related to Maersk Line has dismissed an Alphaliner report linking Israel’s Zim joining 2M as “rumours and speculation”.
