Will Hapag-Lloyd choose a merger or an acquisition?

At the same time, Hapag-Lloyd has 13 orders for new vessels with a capacity of around 254,000 TEU. But after several years of extremely prosperous growth, the container shipping industry is once again in disarray. Container shipping companies are suffering from low rates and overcapacity, and leading analysts in the industry said they did not doubt Hapag-Lloyd's willingness to grow through acquisitions for mid-sized liner companies such as Hapag-Lloyd.

Lars Jensen expects this to put pressure on mid-sized liner companies such as Hapag-Lloyd, with the result likely to be an inevitable merger between Hapag-Lloyd and Japan Marine Network Shipping (ONE) in the next few years.Lars Jensent said: "I think we will see a merger at some point, maybe in 2025. The change in the EU's decision not to extend CBER will advance this process."

He sees ONE as an obvious candidate for a merger with Hapag-Lloyd, but the German shipping company's CEO Rolf Habben Jansen has repeatedly dismissed the possibility of a merger with ONE. However, that doesn't change Jensen's expectations, and he believes that the evolution of the containerised market could put mid-sized shipping companies in a particularly difficult position because they don't have the same extensive service networks as their biggest competitors. That makes mid-sized shipping lines even more vulnerable at a time when one of the big three container alliances, 2M, is on the verge of disbanding and its future is uncertain.

In fact, since 2014, following the successful integration of South American Steamships (CSAV), United Arab Steamships (UASC) and Nile Dutch Shipping, Hapag-Knight has been implementing its "Strategy 2023" with a focus on sustainability.

Hapag-lloyd believes that providing high quality service is the way forward. Quality first is its ultimate commitment to customers and a strong advantage that differentiates it from competitors. In advancing the 2023 strategy, Hapag-Lloyd will focus on its shipping business and continue to invest in more port infrastructure to expand its competitive advantage globally after the pandemic.