The removal of the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (CBER) does indeed introduce a level of uncertainty into the market, particularly within the shipping industry. Lars Jensen’s analysis from Vespucci Maritime underscores several critical points about the potential implications of this change, according to an article published on a container news website.
Regulatory Uncertainty
- The CBER removal has created uncertainty within the liner shipping industry
- The legal framework surrounding the 30% market share threshold is now open to varying interpretations, leaving liner operators unsure about how the rules will be enforced.
Market Share Threshold And Competition
- CBER previously allowed consortia with a market share below 30% to operate without unduly restricting competition.
- Even consortia with market shares above 30% could continue operating if they didn’t significantly limit competition.
- The removal of CBER raises questions about why carriers lobbied to retain a regulation that did not directly apply to many of them.
Industry Restructuring
- The elimination of CBER is likely to lead to a reconfiguration of existing Vessel Sharing Agreements (VSAs) and alliances
- Carriers might still collaborate through these arrangements, but the structures and networks may change.
- These changes could have significant implications for how the shipping industry operates by spring 2024.
Overcapacity Challenges
- Predicting when liner operators will lay up ships to address the surplus tonnage is difficult due to the current situation
- The growth of idled fleets is at 4%, and blanked sailings have not effectively matched capacity with demand.
- Scrapping efforts have resulted in less than 1% of the fleet being deleted, indicating persistent overcapacity issues.
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Source: container news
