Recently announced is the merger of the container divisions of the three main Japanese shipping Lines; K-Line, MOL & NYK.

The Japanese companies are already committed together in THE Alliance slot sharing agreement during next year’s carrier shake up, but have now announced they will be merging in April 2018.

The formation of this joint venture will create the world’s fifth largest shipping line and is expected to widen the gap between the large and medium sized carriers.

The merger is driven by disappointing results over recent times and is expected to save $1.1bn per year in synergies.

This follows the same model as COSCO and CSCL introduced this year, after they were reportedly persuaded to join forces by the Chinese government.

<< PLEASE SHARE THIS STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA EASILY BY CLICKING THE ICONS TO THE LEFT.