On june 17th this year China blocked the formation of a global alliance by the world’s three biggest shipping lines, Maersk, MSC and CMA-CGM. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on its website that the proposed P3 vessel-pooling accord would “restrict competition” on the busiest Asia-Europe container routes.

The rapidity of the decision erased what was considered to be the biggest revolution in the shipping sector over the last years. The launch of the alliance was contingent upon approval by the major governments around the world. If, in the past weeks, the USA Federal Maritime Commission and the European Commission had given the go ahead, China put a stop to all of that. The three companies respected the decision of the Ministry of Commerce, and subsequently, have agreed to stop the preparatory work on the P3 Network. The P3 network, as initially planned, will not come into existence.