COSCO set to reshape shipping alliances

Sino-French container partnership could challenge 2M's dominance of East-West trade

Newly formed China COSCO Shipping Corp Ltd and France's CMA CGM SA are reported to be planning a new container partnership to challenge the huge 2M alliance.

Formed by Denmark's Maersk Line and Switzerland's Mediterranean Shipping Co SA, the 2M operates more than 2.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (or TEUs, the industry measurements of capacity of container ships and terminals), and owns 193 vessels.