by Przemysław Myszka

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…." - that is in the 1990s - the first alliances were formed in the container shipping business.

Not that 'cooperation' between the lines didn't exist earlier.

Yet, as the globalisation of trade accelerated towards end-20th century with a powerful market liberalisation shot in the arm, many carriers, individually too small to cover the most promising deep-sea lanes, started striking partnerships to extend their service coverage, thus slice a bigger portion of the growing market.

At the same time, policymakers had nothing against alliances, as they were believed to be facilitating trade.

Although the constellations that were initially moulded proved to be fragile, the overall direction was set - market concentration (aka monopoly).

The fight who'll ultimately sit on the throne is ongoing, with a few carrier names being either no more or swallowed by those more affluent/predatory.

Meanwhile, as in real warfare, other parties that found themselves caught in the middle had to learn, sometimes the hard way, how to dodge the bullets.

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