Dive Brief:

• The Ocean Alliance announced Thursday its proposed service network would include 350 container vessels with 3.5 million TEU capacity, operating 40 East-West trade services through 100 ports of call and over 500 port pairs, Lloyd's Loading List reported Thursday.
• If approved, the shipping alliance — comprised of CMA CGM, COSCO Container Lines, Evergreen Line and Orient Overseas Container Line — would surpass the 2M alliance in Asia-Europe and Asia-North America trade capacity.
• Half of the proposed trade services will travel to North America, with vessels arriving at 17 ports in Canada and the U.S. as early as April 2017. 

Dive Insight:

The announcement comes at the heels of the Federal Maritime Commission's approval of the alliance, which allowed the alliance to act jointly in the eyes of the U.S. as of last week and cleared the way for proposed service announcements.

Given the nature of global shipping, however, China and the European Commission must still approve the alliance before the services set sail in April, but the specificity of services should only help prove its merits. In the press release the Ocean Alliance also stated it had filed for approval with China, and was confident it met European conditions following "conversations." 

The service network, as its title (Day One Product) shows, is only the initial service outlook for the alliance, which has made clear it looks to expand over time. The Alliance's initial period is set for five years. Accounts and other operational services will be jointly managed through an "operation coordination center," according to China COSCO Holding's third quarter earnings report.