A decline in the container-line sector’s profitability in the past two quarters – due in part to fuel costs – is leading the liners to rationalize routes and cut capacity on some routes. THE Alliance (ONE, Hapag-Lloyd and Yang Ming) is combining two Transpacific services. That comes after MSC cut its Eagle service. The move by THE reduces capacity on the Shanghai-LA lane and comes after the volumes handled on that route pair for THE fell 17% on a year earlier in the second quarter. THE alliance’s share of volumes on the combined PS5/8 routing reached 21% in the past quarter, putting i...