The FMC space charter agreement filed by CMA CGM and Marfret on 21 September 2026 sets the terms under which Marfret buys space on a weekly PAD service that, according to the Daily Cargo News, CMA CGM now operates alone. The Federal Maritime Commission’s record for Agreement No. 201477, the CMA CGM/Marfret PAD Service Space Charter Agreement, gives 5 November 2026 as the effective date. CMA CGM charters space to Marfret between the US Atlantic coast and ports in Australia, New Zealand, the French Pacific Islands, Peru, Colombia, Jamaica, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Ireland. Marfret’s only ship on the service, the Marius, had already moved to CMA CGM on 20 October, and the Daily Cargo News says the rotation has dropped its Atlantic leg for six months, so the filing covers more than the service currently sails.
One carrier’s ship, another carrier’s space
The FMC’s agreements overview describes a vessel sharing agreement as an arrangement between ocean carriers to share vessel space on specific trade lanes, with the space each partner holds varying from port to port. An FMC space charter agreement is narrower. 46 CFR 535.104 defines it as one carrier providing vessel space for another in exchange for compensation or services. The FMC overview adds that parties to filed agreements receive a limited exemption from US antitrust law.
The same rule adds that a space charter may include equipment interchange and receipt and delivery of cargo, but not capacity rationalization.
The pair had filed the first kind. A Federal Register notice of 25 March lists Agreement No. 011931-013, the CMA CGM/Marfret Vessel Sharing Agreement for PAD Service, an amendment adding Ireland to the scope and increasing the number of vessels the parties operate, with a proposed effective date of 3 May 2026. Under the new filing the same service has one operator.
What the charter gives Marfret
The Daily Cargo News reported on 28 October that CMA CGM is now sole operator of the weekly service and Marfret a slot charterer, with the 2,506 TEU Marius chartered to CMA CGM for 12 months from its Melbourne call. Marfret’s chief executive Guillaume Vidil gave a Panama Canal reason: the ship “now benefits from our partner’s ranking, making it easier to secure passage slots”. Marfret says canal slots are allocated by ranking, that the more transits a shipowner makes each year the higher it ranks, and that last-minute auction prices have reached “unprecedented levels” this year. Its statement adds that nothing changes in cargo and booking arrangements for customers, and that Seaway Agencies continues to represent it in Australia.
The filed agreement text puts numbers on what Marfret now buys. Article 5.1 provides a fixed allocation of 162 TEU southbound at 12 tons average per TEU and 142 TEU northbound at 14 tons, bought on a “used or not used” basis. Marfret pays for that space whether or not it fills it.
Forty-five days from filing to effect
Section 40304 of Title 46 sets the timing. A filed agreement takes effect on the 45th day after filing or the 30th day after the Federal Register notice, whichever is later. The Commission can shorten the period at the filer’s request, but not to fewer than 14 days after the notice. The Federal Register notice of 29 September says the parties asked for expedited review. Thirty days after that notice is 29 October, and 45 days from 21 September is 5 November. The FMC record shows 5 November, the later date.
The Marius changed charterer on 20 October, 16 days before it.
The old sharing agreement may still have governed those 16 days. None of the filings or press reports says.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd filed a space charter next to a cooperative working agreement. The Federal Register notice of 24 June lists a Maersk/Hapag-Lloyd space charter between the US East Coast and Colombia and Panama, Agreement No. 201471, with a proposed effective date of 1 August 2026. The same notice carries an amendment to the carriers’ East Coast North America to West Coast South America and Caribbean cooperative working agreement that adds a “structural provision of slots”.
What to ask Marfret before a booking
Ask for the vessel and the operating carrier to be named on the booking confirmation. The agreement gives 12 and 14 tons only as averages per TEU, so ask Marfret how heavier boxes are counted against its space. Whether a particular departure is still scheduled can be checked in a sailings search by origin, destination and date. Marfret says the alternative to the canal is sailing around South America, which “would add several days to the voyage”.