A Vessel Sharing Agreement (VSA) is usually reached between various partners within a shipping consortium who agree to operate a liner service along a specified route using a specified number of vessels.
It is not necessary for each of the partners to have an equal number of vessels.
The quantum of space that each partner gets may vary from port to port and could depend on the number of vessels operated by the different partners. So, the space that is available for loading and discharging at each of the ports of call is shared between the partners.
The most recent agreement, which started this year , is the one between Maersk Line and MSC. They entered into the agreement with a different number of ships, Maersk with around 110 and MSC with 75.
World Maritime News Staff