Update: Maersk, MSC, 13 other shipping firms to change pricing methods: EU

[BRUSSELS] World No 1 container liner Maersk, Swiss peer MSC and 13 other peers have offered to change their practices to settle a two-year EU antitrust investigation, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

The companies include No 3 player CMA CGM, Taiwan's Evergreen Marine, Germany's Hapag Lloyd, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), China Shipping , Hamburg Sud, South Korean firm Hanjin, OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line), Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) , United Arab Shipping Company, Nippon Yusen Kaisha , Hyundai Merchant Marine and Israeli peer Zim.

The Commission said the container liners offer to stop publishing and communicating generate rate increase announcements, which are changes to prices expressed as the amount or percentage of the change.

Third parties have a month to provide feedback on the proposal before the EU competition authority accepts the offer without any finding of wrongdoing or possible fines.

REUTERS