From April 1st, the original four major shipping alliances officially became the three major shipping alliances (2M+HMM, Ocean Alliance, THE Alliance). According to Drewry's analysis, based on the weekly port calls of the three major alliances, the top five Chinese port calls are Shanghai Port (58), Ningbo Port (54), Yantian Port (42), Hong Kong Hong Kong (26 times), Qingdao Port (25 times). Among the Asian ports, there are Singapore ports (35 times) and Busan ports (32 times) which have achieved relatively high frequency of calls.

Among European ports, the busiest ports are Rotterdam (21 times), Antwerp (19 times), Le Havre (13 times), Bremen (13 times), Hamburg (13 times) , Southampton Port (10 times), Valencia Port (10 times), Barcelona Port (8 times), Genoa Port (8 times), La Spezia Port (7 times).

Among North American ports, Norfolk, Savannah and Charleston will be the busiest in the South Atlantic, and New York and New Jersey will be the busiest in the North Atlantic.

It is not difficult to see that in the battle of the three major alliances, some ports have natural advantages, such as joint venture ports with liner companies, or important regional transit ports. At the same time, some ports are gradually losing their advantages. Port Klang, the container port ranked 12th in the world, is not optimistic about its prospects. The reason is that its main customers, the French liner company CMA CGM and Arabian Shipping, respectively joined the new shipping alliance. In order to expand the trans-Pacific route market, it is very likely that its capacity will be transferred from Westport to Singapore port.

The choice of the terminal by the shipping company should first consider the infrastructure of the port, and also consider its ability to quickly evacuate a large number of containers to the hinterland; secondly, it should be noted that the terminal invested and leased by the shipping company itself will become its anchor* **. Therefore, terminals owned or cooperated by COSCO SHIPPING and Maersk have natural advantages.

The "wolf" has really come, so how should the port respond?

1. The dominant position of the port has been reversed. Previously, major domestic hub ports were in an advantageous position in negotiations with liner companies by virtue of their geographical and natural monopoly advantages, and had a strong voice. However, the formation of the three major alliances will put the liner companies in a strong position when negotiating with the terminals.

2. Port competition is more intense. The survival and development of ports depend on the support of liner companies, and the competition among various ports is very fierce, and preferential measures have been introduced to attract liner companies to call.

3. The future development of the port is constrained. Container port development is vulnerable to the siphon effect. When a port is strong, it will restrict the development of adjacent ports. After the formation of the three major alliances, once it is determined to evacuate a certain port, it will deal a fatal blow to the port. In order to strive for calling, the port's room for bargaining on operating rates has been greatly reduced, which has affected the long-term development of the port.

1. For ports, it is very important to have a clear understanding of the situation and clear positioning. It is necessary to make effective use of existing conditions, reposition and plan, and rationally adjust the port-side industry, so as to promote the optimal allocation of resources, continuously improve the quality of port services, and differentiate road to competition.

2. All ports form alliances and cooperation, from competition to competition and cooperation. Because under the alliance of shipping companies, it is difficult for the port to cope with its challenges alone. If the port can form an alliance, it will effectively enhance its voice and maintain its market share.