Christian Roeloffs

Before the onset of the pandemic, the shipping industry operated with an abundance of capacity at par with the demand patterns. More than 80% of the market needs were met by three major shipping alliances — 2M (Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co.), THE Alliance (Ocean Network Express, Hapag-Lloyd and Yang Ming), and OCEAN (CMA CGM/APL, Cosco Shipping and Evergreen Line).

But the pandemic plunged the world into a desperate tussle between supply and demand. Trade flows to...