Container carrier giants Maersk and Hapag Lloyd have announced that they have entered a long-term operational collaboration called the ‘Gemini Cooperation’, it will be implemented from February 2025, immediately after the conclusion of the 2M Alliance.
The new network will:
• cover 7 trades: Asia / US West Coast, Asia / US East Coast, Asia / Middle East, Asia / Mediterranean, Asia / North Europe, Middle East – India / Europe and Transatlantic
• comprise of 26 mainline services. The mainline ocean services will be complemented by a global network of dedicated shuttles centred around owned and/ or controlled transhipment hubs – thereof 14 shuttle services in Europe, 4 in the Middle East, 13 in Asia and 1 in the Gulf of Mexico. These shuttle services will offer a fast connection with flexible capacity between hubs and ports served by shuttle services, and vice versa
• Seamless connections to a wide range of transportation products and logistical services
• As a part of the agreement, the two companies have set the target of delivering a schedule reliability of above 90% once the network is fully phased in
Commenting on the move, well-known industry analyst Lars Jensen wrote: “This is a major shake-up in the container shipping setup on the East-West trades… Alliances tend to have a lifespan of roughly 5-8 years, and hence the re-alignment we are seeing now will most likely be the competitive playing field on the east-west services into the early 2030s”.
Charles Moret of LinerGrid added that he believes that the reason why Gemini will operate 290 vessels is that the Gemini partners will – in his opinion – aim for a hybrid solution so as to be nimble when operating an East-West network with a high focus on hub planning and execution to avoid a disruption and ripple effect, while keeping flexibility to adapt to change.
