Ocean Network Express Tracking and ONE Vessel Schedule | project44
February 2, 2018
Japanese lines Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) will jointly operate as the Ocean Network Express (ONE), and will begin its services on April 1, 2018.
At the time of the October announcement, the companies said that their decision to merge came on the heels of low oil prices, sluggish cargo demand, oversupply of trade capacity and container freight rates at historic lows, according to a report in Seatrade Maritime News.
The companies will merge into Ocean Network Express (ONE) and will rank sixth in terms of global ranking by vessel capacity after the merger — a combined 1.48 million TEU on 234 ships; well above Evergreen’s 1.1 million TEU and just behind Hapag-Lloyd’s 1.56 million TEU.
With a combined order book of around 187,000 TEU in 2018, ONE has the potential to eclipse Hapag-Lloyd, which has no ships on order. NYK, the largest of the trio, will hold a 38% stake in the merged Ocean Network Express (ONE), while K Line and MOL will each have a 31% share.
A primary function for ONE will be to reduce costs by cutting out duplicated sailings.
The bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping in August 2016 is the biggest ever in the container shipping sector, underscoring the depressed state of the industry severely weakened by excessive capacity and poor earnings. Global carriers have responded to the crisis by way of mergers and consolidation. France’s CMA CGM completed its acquisition of Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), which owns APL.
The merger of Hapag-Lloyd and UASC is expected to bring about improvements in their profitability and achieve lower transport costs per container.
China’s state-owned giant shipping conglomerates, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company and China Shipping (Group) Company, had merged to form China Cosco Shipping Corporation (Cosco Shipping), in an attempt to streamline the businesses and better utilise resources.
Ben Hackett, founder of maritime shipping consultancy Hackett Associates, said that the benefits of Ocean Network Express vary, depending on the perspective of the stakeholder. “From a shipper, or beneficial cargo owner perspective, this will take more competition away,” he said, “but on the carrier side, they said it creates more [strategic] rationale, gets rids of potential excess capacity, and creates a more unified company. It does not impact pricing, except that there will be a unified pricing structure for one company instead of three.”
In a recent statement, the member carriers Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express and Yang Ming said: “After one year of cooperation we are proud to say that our services and the network improved significantly. The business is well on track in operational terms and with the delivery of several new big ships we are able to serve our customers even better.”
The comprehensive network of 33 services is connecting more than 81 major ports throughout Asia, North Europe, the Mediterranean, North America, Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Indian Sub-Continent and the Middle East with fast transit times and a wide range of direct port-to-port-connections.
Source: Port Technology, Logistics Management, The Loadstar, Supply Chain Dive, Seatrade Maritime, Shipping Watch, ONE
