In fact, the 2M alliance (MSC and Maersk) has recently announced their decision to temporarily consolidate Asia-North Europe port calls in 2022 by reducing them in Northern Europe. While this reduction was claimed to be only temporary, should it prove beneficial for delivery times, there lays the possibility of becoming a more permanent solution, not only for Asian-Europe trade lanes, but what if such strategy were to be replicated in the Americas? In a region with such extension and complex geography, such strategy poses a potential threat for ports & terminals: How will they manage to remain competitive enough to consolidate themselves as hubs or gateways for trade? And if not, what other options do they have? Furthermore, how could regional supply chains be affected? How is transpacific trade evolving compared to that of the Atlantic Ocean?

While optimizing trade routes is paramount for shipping lines’ business models, their search for efficiency is driving them to look outside the scope of maritime transportation, as proven by key players like MSC, Maersk and CMA CGM investing in airplanes. Despite their claims do not indicate a full switch towards air transportation, there is a clear strategy: Diversification of distribution channels. 

As the trade route landscape evolves, is it possible that the industry finds itself at a point where traditional one-stream supply chains develop into a multi-stream supply network? One wonders whether ports could implement a similar strategy to that of shipping lines and develop alliances that guarantee ports calls – from competing to complementing each other, there could be a silver line when tide goes down.