Hapag-Lloyd, Asian lines form new alliance

Tokyo

HAPAG-Lloyd AG, Germany's top container shipping line, and five Asian carriers will form a new vessel-sharing alliance to take on bigger rivals amid a glut in capacity that's depressed freight rates.

The partners will include Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, Nippon Yusen KK, South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co and Taiwan's Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp, the Hamburg-based company said.

Called "The Alliance", it will control 18 per cent of the world's container shipping fleet with more than 620 vessels and a combined capaci…