JAPAN`s NYK Line, rated the ninth largest container carrier in the world, has opted to join its Japanese rivals MOL and "K" Line in resigning from the European Liner Affairs Association (ELAA), the surviving group after the 2008 EU ban on the Far Eastern Freight Conference.
According to the January 21 edition of the US Federal Register, the three Japanese carriers have been deleted as parties to the Container Trade Statistics Agreement, formed in the wake of the European union ban on liner conferences, reported American Shipper.
The ELAA, which fought on behalf of liner carriers for antitrust immunity in Europe, has evolved to become a compiler and disseminator of container trade statistics, said American Shipper, adding that the note came in a filing to the Federal Maritime Commission.
MOL quit the ELAA early last year, later withdrawing from the Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (TSA). "K" Line said it would leave the ELAA this July, but would remain in the TSA as will NYK.
Surviving members of the Container Trade Statistics Agreement, according to the Federal Register filing, are China Shipping, CMA CGM, Cosco, CSAV, Evergreen, Hamburg Sud, Hanjin Shipping, Hyundai Merchant Marine, ICL, Maersk Line, MSC, OOCL, PIL, UASC, Yang Ming and Zim