Japanese ONE officially starts operations

Ocean Network Express Pte. Ltd. (ONE) officially commenced container shipping businesses on 1 April 2018. ONE is the result of an integration of the container operations of three Japanese shipping carriers: Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K Line), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL), and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK).

The new joint-venture seeks to provide higher quality and more competitive services, responding to the imbalance of supply and demand in the container shipping industry which has struggled in recent years due to a decline in the container growth rate and the rapid influx of newly built vessels.

The alliance will operate around 230 vessels with a combined 1,440,000 TEU fleet size. The ships will provide 85 service loops at over 200 ports in 100 countries.

The start of container shipping operations is in line with the initial schedule laid out when the company was established on 7 July 2017.

The shipping business integration strategy has been seen a lot in recent months, as a result from global economic downturn, leading shipping companies to mergers or alliances, in order to achieve stable profits and overtake the competition. This consolidation is expected to continue as a key feature especially in the container shipping industry into 2018, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service.

Source: www.safety4sea.com