French CMA CGM's decisive negotiations for the acquisition of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) and a major Chinese merger between Cosco and China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) will challenge Maersk Line's position on the carrier's most important routes, those between Asia and Europe.

When Maersk Line entered into an alliance with Swiss partner MSC at the beginning of 2015, the world's two largest container carriers looked set to dominate the route between Asia and Europe. Now emerging alliances in the struggling container industry could alter that picture entirely.