To be blunt, antitrust immunity anywhere in the world is no longer relevant in today's liner shipping industry.

This rare commercial privilege, which essentially allows carriers to collectively discuss pricing in the name of industry stability, has simply outlived any potential purpose, despite what some members of the ocean shipping industry may argue.

It's a stretch to believe that antitrust immunity helped carriers weather one of the worst economic recessions in modern history. Survival simply required the industry's top executives to individually make tough decisions on cost and capacity cuts to keep their companies afloat. In fact, no container carriers succumbed during this particularly harsh period.

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