The EU Commission's by now several years long investigation of 14 container carriers' alleged coordination of general rate increases could maybe result in a deal between shipowners and the EU later this year, industry sources tell ShippingWatch, though it has not been possible to confirm the information with the EU's competition authorities.

However, among the container carriers currently being investigated, including Maersk Line, confidence is gaining ground that it will be possible to reach an agreement with the EU Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, and her officials later this year. The agreement is supposed to both put an end to the investigation and ensure that, going forward, the parties do not end up in a similar, protracted conflict again.