Maersk will operate the Asia–East Coast South America trade without a vessel-sharing partner from 8 December, after CMA CGM confirmed it will exit the joint ASAS2/SEAS3 service — the second partner Maersk has lost on the lane inside three months.

The final sailing of ASAS2/SEAS3 departs Shanghai on 8 December, ending the pairing the two lines announced this week. In September, Zim left Maersk's ASAS loop to launch the AS3/ZFS service with Hapag-Lloyd. Maersk now holds no alliance cover on a trade the formal vessel-sharing frameworks have never wrapped, and shippers face the practical task of rebooking volumes across a thinner schedule.

What does the change mean for shippers?

Cargo owners should review routings before the last Shanghai call. The combined ASAS2/SEAS3 loop has linked Asian load ports with East Coast South America destinations through the carriers' shared terminal and feeder networks. Removing CMA CGM cuts Maersk's access to that carrier's terminal handling and inland coverage at South American discharge ports, and removes the second-line sailings the two operators have provided on the return leg.

The commercial question for shippers is frequency, transit time and cost. Maersk loses the slot-sharing benefit CMA CGM provided on a route where eastbound reefer and project cargo demand does not generate the volumes seen on the headhaul Asia–Europe or trans-Pacific trades. The carrier must now either sail ASAS2/SEAS3 standalone at a higher per-slot cost, fold the capacity into its surviving ASAS service, or close the loop. Each option produces a different schedule density on the East Coast South America call.

Why does this matter beyond one lane?

Asia–East Coast South America has long sat outside the 2M, Ocean Alliance and THE Alliance frameworks. Carriers paired ad hoc — Maersk/Zim, then Maersk/CMA CGM — to share bunker exposure, lift vessel strings above the minimum economic size, and spread the cost of low-string eastbound utilization on a route where reefer and project cargo dominate. Zim's move into a three-cornered arrangement with Hapag-Lloyd pulled one block of capacity away from Maersk in September. CMA CGM's exit removes the second.

Forwarders with allocation contracts on the combined string should now reprice against the remaining options:

• Hapag-Lloyd and Zim's AS3/ZFS, now the largest dedicated Asia–East Coast South America string outside Maersk
• Surviving Ocean Alliance and THE Alliance loops that call East Coast South America ports
• Independent operators offering direct or transhipment routings via Caribbean or Panama hub ports

Reefer shippers face the tightest squeeze. East Coast South America agricultural exports compete for limited reefer slots on the westbound call, and the loss of one operator compresses the slot count on the leg Maersk will either continue solo or vacate.

What comes next?

The 30 days between now and the 8 December cut-off will fix the new map on the trade. If Maersk confirms a solo continuation, shippers should expect a thinner schedule at higher per-slot cost into the first quarter of 2026. If Maersk exits the loop entirely, Hapag-Lloyd's AS3/ZFS and the existing Ocean Alliance services set the rate ceiling on Asia–East Coast South America for the next contract cycle.

Maersk has not publicly committed to either path, leaving forwarders to hold allocations on the final ASAS2/SEAS3 sailing while pricing alternatives for the post-December rotation.