Three US regional container carriers are trying to win regulatory permission for an emergency alliance to cope with coronavirus effects on the sector.
Crowley Maritime, King Ocean Services and Seaboard Marine have asked the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to partially exempt them from antitrust rules so they can work together in markets such as the US Gulf, Central America and the Caribbean basin.
The application is for an "Emergency Cooperative Working Agreement" that would allow the Florida-based companies to discuss and agree the removal of one or more vessels from their trades.
They would also coordinate timetables, sailing dates, frequency of voyages and carrying capacity.
In addition, the owners would be able to charter space from each other.
The FMC has said a deal would cover the Atlantic and US Gulf coasts, most island nations in the Caribbean, the Central American countries, and Guyana and Suriname on the north coast of South America, according to analyst Alphaliner.
Services to and from Puerto Morelos in Mexico would also be included.
Operational challenges
"Overall, the measures are geared towards helping the carriers face operational challenges that may result from the coronavirus outbreak," Alphaliner said.
"These could include declining cargo volumes, quarantine regulations, restrictions on crew travel, limited operations in ports and at terminals, and others."
An agreement could be up and running by May and last until the end of 2020.
Seaboard Marine has 26 vessels totalling 43,000 teu, while Crowley operates 17 of a combined 20,000 teu. King Ocean comes in third with 11 vessels at a total of 10,000 teu.
They rank at numbers 32, 49 and 77 in the global capacity chart and focus on feeders of 500 teu up to 2,500 teu.
Crowley's Jones Act ships serving Puerto Rico would not be covered by the deal.
King Ocean and Crowley signed a vessel-sharing agreement in 2017 covering Central America.
