Customer circular SIS SeafreightKundenrundschreiben SIS Seefracht – Februar 2025

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

We would like to give you an insight into the current new shipping alliances of the largest shipping companies and their current impact on the global ocean freight market.

Shipping alliances 2025

The new major shipping alliances from 2025 will bring some changes that may affect your transport planning and supply chains, especially in the initial phase of the new alliances. Below you will find an overview of the current alliances and the most important developments resulting from them:

Premier Alliance:
• Ocean Network Express (ONE)
• Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM)
• Yang Ming (YM)

Ocean Alliance:
• Evergreen Line
• Cosco Group inkl. OOCL
• CMA-CGM Group

Gemini Cooperation:
• Maersk
• Hapag-Lloyd

Independent:
• Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)
-> but partly in partnership on certain routes with Premier Alliance

1. Redistribution of routes & port calls

The new strategic partnerships lead to the redistribution of cargo capacities and significantly change previous routes. Certain ports of departure and arrival are currently only being called at in the second loop in some cases; decisions are made at very short notice and often cannot be planned in advance. As a result, longer delays in ship arrivals are to be expected in the coming weeks.

2. Capacity management & space availability

The reallocation of alliances changes the number of available slots. The ships have to be positioned on the newly allocated routes, which can lead to limited flexibility in bookings and longer lead and main transit times.

3. Bottlenecks and delays

Increased bundling of freight flows at central port hubs leads to delays in departures and arrivals. Congestion at certain ports is a direct consequence of the new timetables and various detour.

4. Changed service quality and transit times

Longer waiting times between port calls and route sections can result in short-notice rerouting on the part of shipping companies, with the result that containers are unloaded at previously unplanned ports. These containers are then picked up again by a later ship and transported to the originally planned port, which is often associated with a loss of time. Acceptance at a previously located or unplanned port must be requested separately from the shipping companies and is associated with additional costs (Change of Destination – COD).

We understand that the situation remains challenging and would like to assure you that we will continue to stay in close contact with you in order to transport your freight as efficiently as possible.

Your known contacts at Schäfer&SIS Interlogistik will continue to keep you closely informed about relevant developments and will be available to you at any time.

We thank you for your trust and cooperation and will keep you informed about further developments.

Best regards,