The big news hitting the 2014 container transportation industry is obviously the onset of the P3 Network concerning the three big shipping lines in the industry, Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) and CMA-CGM. But while the P3 still undergoes close examination by the regulatory authorities, and an increasing number of governmental bodies are involved in voicing their own opinions on whether to give the green or red light to onset of the alliance, other lines are not content to stand by and play the wait and see game. Heading the league is obviously the G6 Alliance lines, (APL, HMM, MOL, Hapag-Lloyd, NYK and OOCL), who have all taken steps to position themselves for the possible onslaught of the P3 Network on the major trade lanes as from April next year. G6 Expansion The G6 lines have made the headlines already in December with confirmation of earlier reports of trade coverage expansion to encompass the major Asia/US West Coast and Europe/US East Coast routes from the beginning of the second quarter. There will be 12-services covering the Asia/US West Coast trade, which effectively offer twice as many weekly sailings as presently provided by the six lines together through the existing Grand Alliance and New World Alliance coverage. On the transatlantic trade, there will be a further five covering the Atlantic, two of which will be pendulum services. While the transpacific expansion is not yet confirmed in its entirety, details have emerged that, coming under the G6 Alliance will be the present New World Alliance operated Pacific Northwest service known as the PNW, and the Pacific China Express, known as the PCX service. The services will be re-branded the Pacific North 2 (PN2) service and the China California 1, to be known as the CC1 service respectively, both from April 2014. The PN2 service will continue with a port rotation of: Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai, Pusan, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver, Pusan, Kwangyang, and Kaohsiung. The CC1 service will continue to cover: Ningbo, Shanghai, Kwangyang, Pusan, Los Angeles, Oakland, Kwangyang, and Ningbo. PN2 service deployment will be 6 x 8,900 teu vessels, while the CC1 will operate with 6 x 6,800 teu vessels, in both cases deployed by HMM. Right now, the PCX operates with a mix of HMM and APL vessels. On the Atlantic, the G6 set up will be five Atlantic services, three of which will be end-to-end links, and two, pendulum loops connecting Asia/Europe and the US via the Panama Canal. • North East Coast Shuttle service covering: North Europe/New York/Norfolk. • Gulf Atlantic service covering: North Europe/USEC and Gulf region. • USEC (South)/Mexico service covering: North Europe/USEC (South) and Gulf of Mexico region. • North Europe/USEC/USWC pendulum service, via the Panama Canal. • Asia/USEC/North Europe pendulum service, via the Panama Canal. Obviously this all has to receive the official nod of approval from the relevant authorities before the go ahead, but the lines are certainly moving in a proactive manner and readying themselves for the year ahead. Loners Look For Hook-ups Focus has also turned on the so-called “loners” of the industry and names like Zim and CSAV have now taken the spotlight for future expansion before they are left out in the cold. In an official statement from Zim, it says it is “In talks with the G6 Alliance lines, over a co-operation agreement on the newly confirmed G6 Alliance Asia/USWC transpacific service network”. Zim and the Grand Alliance lines, OOCL, NYK and Hapag-Lloyd already have a close service co-operation on the Asia/US trade through the North West Express (NWX) and Pacific North West Express (PNX) covering the USWC trade. On the USEC trade, the all water via Panama South China Express (SCE) service is jointly operated by Zim and the Grand Alliance, while on the Suez route, Zim has slots on the South China Express (SCE) and China East Coast (CEC) services operated by the G6 Alliance, which obviously includes the Grand Alliance lines. The new Zim/G6 Alliance service structure is once again scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2014, and the progression would seem a natural route for all concerned, as Zim readies itself for the G6 rubber stamp. With “co-operation” being the buzzword at the moment, CSAV and Hapag-Lloyd have also come into the equation with an announcement that they are involved in talks over a possible co-operation, which presumably could involve a merger of the two lines. An official statement issued by the lines was short and simply worded, “CSAV and Hapag-Lloyd are discussing a possible business combination or any other form of association which would be of mutual interest.”  “To date these discussions have not resulted in any binding or non-binding agreements between the parties.” To most industry onlookers and experts, any co-operation between these two lines would involve a co-operation on the South America trades, in particular the Asia and Europe/East Coast and West Coast South America routes. Such conclusions come from the fact that Hapag-Lloyd and one of the big players on the South America trades, Hamburg-Sud, were involved in possible merger talks until earlier this year, but conflict of opinions on the way forward led to a breakdown in those discussions. To see CSAV as part of the G6 Alliance would be difficult, as the line already has important well established connections with Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) on the major East/West trades such as Asia/North Europe, Asia/Mediterranean, and Indian sub-continent/Europe routes. All this is timed to make its entry to coincide with the P3 Network entrance, assuming of course this gets the official nod of approval from the regulators. There has been a lot of coverage of both approval and disapproval from various official bodies, particularly in the United States, over the onset of the P3 Network, but there are still some weeks to go yet before the nod or shake of the head receives its airing. But going on past record, lines are hardly likely to have gone this far, and put all the foundation work together without careful analysis of the final outcome - 2014 looks like being an interesting year indeed.