Not everyone is as surprised as Maersk Group chief executive Nils Andersen by China’s decision to block the P3 Network it would seem.

There had been whispers in liner-shipping circles that the P3 was in trouble, although no one dared to shout it too loudly for fear of looking foolish.

The feeling was that even if the P3 failed — as some had started to suspect it might — it had already succeeded in changing the face of liner shipping to the benefit of the P3 partners.

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