With so much surplus capacity afloat, the disappearance of APL with its purchase by CMA CGM from the G6 Alliance is not likely to make much difference as laid up ships from the surviving partners NYK, Hapag-Lloyd, MOL, Hyundai and OOCL can easily replace what's needed - until newbuilds start to arrive in 2017.

That's the assessment of Paris-based analyst Alphaliner after noting the size of  G6 collective order book by TEU as of December 8 was NYK, 140,000 TEU on order (27.7 per cent of its fleet); Hapag-Lloyd, 52,500 TEU (5.6 percent); MOL, 140,920 TEU (25.2 per cent); Hyundai, 60,000 TEU (15.7 per cent); OOCL, 126,600 (22.7 percent) and APL coming in at 0 TEU (0 per cent).

An executive from one G6 carrier said CMA CGM's announcement did not come as a surprise and neither did news that APL would be withdrawn from the alliance, reported IHS media. But he did not expect any major disruptions.