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Gemini Cooperation terminals well placed for start of alliance

The Gemini Cooperation, between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, has said that service reliability is a key driver of its association, backed by key terminals operations.

Nick Savvides, Europe correspondent

September 25, 2024

2 Min Read
Container being loaded onto a vessel
Credit: Hapag-Lloyd

Experts say Gemini is well placed for terminal operations in all the major regions that the carriers will serve as the start of the alliance draws near.

Cooperation between the two top ten lines is due to start in February 2025 and Drewry Shipping consultants outlined the various key regions including North Europe and the Mediterranean where the alliance will operate and said that while Hamburg’s Altenweder Terminal could be a challenge with the larger ships unable to pass under the Köhlbrandbrücke bridge, both carriers have overflow port capacity, Maersk at Bremerhaven and Hapag-Lloyd at Wilhelmshaven.

Gemini will operate a hub and spoke system delivering cargo to major hubs and using shuttle vessels to deliver freight to regional ports.

Ports and terminals specialist at Drewry’s Eleanor Hadland said: “Gemini is in a good position to start with very little exposure to ports and terminals where neither carrier has a shareholding.”

Hadland said that where the lines are exposed to terminals in which they have no stake they do have long standing relationships and there should be little or no effect on the services that the Gemini operates. Hadland mentioned Jebel Ali in the UAE, Red Sea ports in Saudi Arabia and Shanghai transhipment which, “should not be a worry”.

Related:Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd falling far short of Gemini reliability target

Hadland estimates that around 70% of the terminals that the Gemini will call at are either operated by one of the two lines or they have a major shareholding in the facility.

Another area of interest is the one port call on the Caribbean coast of Columbia at Cartegena where neither line has a stake, however, Hadland said that the call will connect to a single small shuttle a week which will connect non-Gemini Latin American services along South America’s east coast.

North Europe and the Mediterranean are well served by Gemini, with Hapag-Lloyd having a stake in the Tanger terminal operated by Eurogate and Marsa Maroc (10% stake in Container Terminal 3 of the Tangier Med 2 port in Morocco) while Maersk has two 100% owned terminals in Tangier, which Hadland said gives GC spare capacity which it could need to meet its operational requirements of delivering freight on time.

“Terminals at Tangier are exceptional, world class,” said Hadland, “their crane performance is up there with the highest in the world and they operate a ‘just-in-time’, no wait arrival system too.”

In central Europe Hapag-Lloyd acquired the Spinelli Group and is a long-standing customer of Genoa, while further east in Suez and the Red Sea the two carriers have established port operations that will be more than enough to meet Gemini’s requirements said Hadland.

Hapag-Lloyd operates a terminal at Damietta, and the Suez Canal Container Terminal operated by Maersk’s APM Terminals, giving the carriers an overlap in Egypt, again with spare capacity to help maintain service schedules.

About the Author

Nick Savvides

Europe correspondent

Experienced journalist working online, in monthly magazines and daily news coverage. Nick Savvides began his journalistic career working as a freelance from his flat in central London, and has since worked in Athens, while also writing for some major publications including The Observer, The European, Daily Express and Thomson Reuters. 

Most recently Nick joined The Loadstar as the publication’s news editor to develop the profile of the publication, increase its readership and to build a team that will market, sell and report on supply chain issues and container shipping news. 

This was a similar brief to his time at ci-online, the online publication for Containerisation International and Container News. During his time at ci-online Nich developed a team of freelancers and full-time employees increasing its readership substantially. He then moved to International Freighting Weekly, a sister publication, IFW also focused on container shipping, rail and trucking and ports. Both publications were published by Informa. 

Following his spell at Informa Nick joined Reed’s chemical reporting team, ICIS, as the chemical tanker reporter. While at ICIS he also reported on the chemical industry and spent some time on the oil & gas desk. 

Nick has also worked for a time at Lloyd’s Register, which has an energy division, and his role was writing their technical magazine, before again becoming a journalist at The Naval Architect for the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. After eight successful years at RINA, he joined Fairplay, which published a fortnightly magazine and daily news on the website.

Nick's time at Fairplay saw him win the Seahorse Club Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year 2018 awards.

After Fairplay closed, Nick joined an online US start-up called FreightWaves. 

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