HMM, Ocean Network Express — known as ONE — and Yang Ming Marine’s proposed Premier Alliance has been halted as the Federal Maritime Commission seeks additional information, according to a press release last week.
“The Commission has determined that the Premier Alliance Agreement as submitted lacks sufficient detail to allow for a complete analysis of potential competitive impacts and whether the agreement fully complies with all statutory requirements,” according to the release.
Once the ocean carriers provide the FMC with the needed information, the agency has 45 days to review the agreement for competitive and legal concerns. A 15-day public comment period will open once the request is published on the Federal Register.
HMM, ONE and Yang Ming Marine announced their plans to form an alliance in September, and it was set to go live on Tuesday. The cooperation is made up of the carriers’ mainline services across major trade lanes connecting Asia to North America West Coast, North America East Coast, the Mediterranean, North Europe and the Middle East.
The FMC’s request for information could be “fairly standard,” according to Maersk. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s alliance, the Gemini Cooperation, was also halted by the agency for a similar reason.
Later in September, the Gemini Cooperation went into effect but the FMC said the alliance would be subject to extensive monitoring.
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