French container shipping giant CMA CGM denied media reports on being in preliminary discussions with Korean shipbuilders on a potential order for new ultra-large containerships.
Namely, CMA CGM was reported to be in talks with Korean big three Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) regarding an order for a set of new mega boxships.
However, the French liner company told World Maritime News in a statement that “the Group was not in such discussions”.
Separately, the French container shipping major is said to be in talks with its Chinese counterpart China COSCO on a new carrier partnership, according to Alphaliner.
As disclosed, the duo is also seeking to rope-in Evergreen and OOCL in a plan that could potentially split up three of today’s four main East-West alliances.
“If successful, the initiative would radically alter the current liner shipping landscape and leave the eight remaining carriers of the Ocean Three, CKYHE and G6 alliances in the lurch. Discussions are believed to be still ongoing and the carriers involved have not yet publicly announced their plans,” Alphaliner said.
At the end of last year, CMA CGM agreed to buy Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) for about USD 2.4 billion in cash. The acquisition paves way for CMA CGM to achieve capacity of 2,399 thousand TEUs and combined fleet of 563 vessels. It would also secure it a market share of approximately 11.5% (vs 8.8% for CMA CGM and 2.7% for NOL) and combined turnover of c. USD 22 billion.
The move also enables CMA CGM, which has a strong position on the Asia-Europe, Asia-Mediterranean, Africa and Latin America routes, to benefit from APL’s strong presence on the Transpacific, Intra-Asia and Indian subcontinent shipping routes.
Source: World Maritime News
Source: World Maritime News