The surprise blocking of the merger of the container line businesses of NYK, Mitsui OSK Lines and K Line should not have a significant impact, according to analyst Alphaliner.

The big three Japanese lines will engage with the Competition Commission of South Africa to review the authority’s recent rejection of their planned container lines business merger. But say work on the merger will proceed in the meantime.

In a potentially catastrophic spanner in the works for the Japanese container line merger plans unde Ocean Network Express (ONE) have been rejected by the Competition Commission of South Africa.

The new joint venture container shipping entity of Japan’s big three carriers will operate under the tradename Ocean Network Express with its holding company based in Japan and an operating company incorporated in Singapore.

Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) will merge two of its ship management subsidiaries – Taiyo Nippon Kaisha and Escobal Japan – on 1 July 2017.

The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has clarified its position on the rejection of the proposed merger of the container shipping business of NYK, Mitsui OSK Lines and K Line, as being purely due to it falling outside its jurisdiction.

Ventis and OSM Crew Management have signed a joint venture agreement to provide Filipino crew to K Line’s entire LNG fleet.  

The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) has given the nod to the proposed joint venture between Japan’s big three lines – Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK).

The smallest of Japan’s K Line reported a JPY54.58bn ($468.5m) loss for the first nine months of the financial year ended 31 March 2017, but noted signs of recovery were “beginning to appear”.

Cost competitiveness is the driving force behind the merger of Japan’s big three shipowners container line businesses, according to K Line president Eizo Murakami.