By anyone’s standards 2016 has been a dramatic year for container shipping.

Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has settled for slot exchanges agreements with Maersk Line and MSC rather than the full membership of 2M it had be bargaining for.

MSC has formally declared its “zero tolerance” to the carriage of counterfeit goods by maritime transport.

Walking around the historic old town of Fremantle in Western Australia there is one rather strikingly different new building - MSC’s recently opened AUD14.5m ($10.8m) new office.

The move by Korea Line to buy bankrupt Hanjin Shipping’s Asia – US container line business, that sees the company taking the plunge into the container trade at a very difficult time, is a head scratching one.

Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) says it is still in talks to join the 2M alliance following a report that it had failed to join the grouping.

Following the merger of container line businesses of Japan’s “big three” owners, the top seven container lines will control over 65% of global capacity according to analyst Alphaliner.

Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has clarified that’s it’s joint Maple/TP1 service with Maersk Line added after the collapse of Hanjin shipping will continue at the end of the month.

Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) have suspended their extra transpacific service, added in response to the collapse of Hanjin Shipping, after just three sailings.

Dubai’s Jebel Ali port has been chosen to unleash Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC’s) new ‘Cheetah Service’ which will link four East African ports with the Middle East, Pakistan and India.