COSCO leads Far East-India/Middle East/Red sea tradelane

The Chinese group COSCO is the most dominant player in the Far East-India/Middle East/Red Sea trade market.

A review by Alphaliner reveals that Asian carriers dominate the vast majority of lines on this route, with European operators generally being mainline carriers.

"The only exception here is Denmark’s Unifeeder, which is, however, controlled by the Dubai-based DP World, so that the route corridor is one of Unifeeder's home turfs," reads the Alphaliner post on X.

COSCO Group, including both COSCO Shipping and OOCL Logistics, is in the lead position with about 250,000 TEU of capacity deployed, which represents 12.7% of all operated slots in the trade. "The group is also the only player that operates 'Megamaxes' on this corridor. Its 'MEA5' service, part of the OCEAN Alliance network, is run with five such vessels, averaging some 19,000 teu, as of the start of July," it reads.

Among the Europeans, MSC (8.8%) and CMA CGM (8.5%) are the biggest players, ranked second and third after COSCO Group. "The French carrier is amongst the rare mainline operators that still, in July, offers dedicated service between the Far East and the Red Sea. CMA CGM operates the 'REX2' with a fleet of 3,700–8,500 teu vessels."

Maersk, despite being the global number two, only operates some 4% of all slots in this trade lane, landing it in ninth place. "Its Gemini partner Hapag Lloyd is ranked even lower and places 19th with just 1.6% of overall slot deployment."