US Federal Maritime Commission seeks global regulatory summit on P3

THE US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is calling for a global regulatory summit to discuss the P3 mega alliance that unites the world's three top carriers into a single operational - but not a commercial - company.

FMC chairman Mario Cordero plans to invite regulators in Europe and China to assess the impact of the plan, which while much the same as other shipping alliances, is so much bigger in terms of company size, number of ships and the size of the ships, which are the biggest in the world.

As it stands, the P3 would have 252 ships totalling 2.6 million TEU to be deployed in the Asia-Europe, transpacific and transatlantic trades and consuming 42 per cent of the Asia-Europe market share, 24 per cent of the transpacific and 40 per cent of transatlantic, according to FMC estimates.

Regulatory clearance is needed in China and the US and Europe, which will requires the carriers to self-assess to ensure there is no abuse of their dominant position.

Mr Cordero said he was keeping an open mind. "The commission is responsible for carrying out the congressionally mandated goals of the Shipping Act, namely, non-discriminatory regulatory processes in harmony with and responsive to international shipping practices," he said.

"Together with our European and Chinese counterparts we, as regulatory authorities, have responsibilities related not only to our nations but to the global shipping structure to ensure that this proposed alliance does not harm others," he said.