It is with great interest that we have been reading about the P3 – which sounds like the latest games console (but is, to us at least, much more exciting) – the alliance between the world's three largest container shipping companies, namely CMA CGM, Maersk Line, and Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC).

We read in Tradewinds that the joint vessel operating centre (JVOC) is key to this new network, and that around 200 staff will operate independently from a London head office.

There will also be a Singapore branch, where the three companies will pool their fleets. The framework for this independent operation is key to the companies' pact, which we're sure we will hear more about as the alliance becomes established in 2014. We look forward to hearing more on P3 in time.

Meanwhile, where's my Playstation?