Container-lines operating U.S. seaborne import routes saw a 2.7% year over year drop in volumes in January. The 2M Alliance of Maersk and MSC saw the worst performance with the two liners seeing a 7.1% slide in traffic respectively. The Ocean alliance – led by COSCO Shipping – fell 2.1% and Hapag-Lloyd’s and ONE’s THE Alliance slipped 4.1%. The EU has waived through a four year extension in the block exemption from competition rules for the shipping alliances. SM Line will replace HMM in cooperating with 2M. SM Line already saw a 22.7% surge in shipments to the...