"We are waiting for regulatory approval in several countries," chief executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen told reporters on a media teleconference.

Maersk Line, the container shipping unit in A.P. Moller-Maersk, Switzerland-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A and France's CMA CGM announced the alliance last year.

They already have regulatory approval in the United States but are still waiting for approvals in China and many other countries.

(Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen; Editing by Mark Potter)