The world's largest container shipping companies Maersk and MSC are ending a long-standing partnership.

A joint decision was made to dissolve the so-called 2M alliance in January 2025, Maersk announced on Wednesday in Copenhagen.

Much has changed since the two companies signed the ten-year agreement in 2015, said Maersk boss Vincent Clerc and his MSC colleague Soren Toft.

Hiring 2M paves the way for both sides to pursue their respective strategies.

This ends the alliance that the two shipping companies had entered into to coordinate routes and the occupancy of their ships after ten years.

The EU tolerated such alliances during the shipping crisis in the middle of the last decade because the shipping companies remained operationally independent and it assumed that competition would not be restricted as a result.

For the ports, however, such mergers meant that the shipping companies gained greater influence over where the goods went.

This allowed the shipping companies to influence the prices at the terminals.

A total of three alliances were formed at that time: 2M, "THE Alliance", which includes Hapag-Lloyd, and the "Ocean Alliance" with CMA CGM, Cosco and others.

The shipping companies had previously engaged in a ruinous price war that led to several takeovers.

The container shipping companies have long since left the crisis behind and are now earning handsomely.

During the Corona crisis, profits skyrocketed because transport capacities were scarce and freight prices rose rapidly.

Supply chains are now easing as the global economy weakens.

The Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS) called on the EU Commission to issue clearer rules for consortia of this type.

"Ultimately, we find it strange that the European competition authority has tolerated the cooperation between the two market leaders in international container shipping without checking for so long," explained ZDS Managing Director Daniel Hosseus.

"We call on the European Commission to design and then enforce a clear and specific legal framework for consortia in liner shipping."