Freight forwarders have called on the UK government to open a competition investigation into the container shipping business over the supply chain crunch.
The British International Freight Association (BIFA) wrote to transport minister Robert Courts to express concerns about practices by major container lines.
It complained that competition law exemptions for liner operators are harming international trade amid a period of "well-documented" chaos.
"BIFA members fully accept that a free-market economy is open to all, but are increasingly concerned that the activities of the container shipping lines, and the exemptions from legislation from which they benefit, are distorting the operations of that market to the shipping lines' advantage," director general Robert Keen wrote in a letter to Courts.
He said the lines are "adversely and unfairly affecting their customers".
TradeWinds has requested comment from the World Shipping Council. The liner industry group has said there are multiple causes of supply chain issues since the onset of the pandemic, including swings in supply and demand, localised lockdowns, disrupted consumption patterns, labour shortages and congested infrastructure.
But Keen pointed to European Union exemptions for container ship operators that were carried forward into UK law after Brexit.
He said there were 27 major container shipping lines in 2015 compared with 15 today. Seven years ago, the largest line controlled 15.3% of the market; today, a single alliance controls 40% of key routes, Keen said.
And he pointed to Drewry estimates that major container shipping lines are expected to have earned $150bn last year.
"To put that into perspective, this is more than has been achieved in the previous 20 years combined, which many BIFA members consider to be a case of blatant profiteering," he said.
Regulators in the US are already taking a close look at the liner sector.
Federal Maritime Commission chairman Daniel Maffei told TradeWinds in November that it is keeping a close eye on three major liner alliances to ensure fair competition among operators.
In late December, the agency announced investigations into Wan Hai Lines and Ocean Network Express (ONE).
