The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) announced that rejects on jurisdictional grounds the “Tripartite Agreement”, an agreement of three carriers to form a joint container shipping service.
The Tripartite Agreement was filed at the Commission on March 24, 2017 by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd (K Line), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). These parties were seeking authority to share information with each other, in advance of a new business entity being formed under the agreement next year. The agreement would have gone into effect on May 8.
As the Commission explained, it determined that parties to the Tripartite Agreement were ultimately establishing a merged, new business entity and that action is among the type of agreements excluded from FMC review.
