Gemini to pick from twin network options in October

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have announced two East-West network options for operations from February 2025 when their Gemini Co-operation launches.

The announcement comes as the alliance gained approval from the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), despite the regulator voicing concerns earlier this year.

The partners said they will choose in October 2024 between the two options, one routing via the Suez Canal and the other routing around the Cape of Good Hope. The Suez route has a shorter transit time and voyage distance, saving considerable operational costs for container lines, but Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the southern Red Sea have led to the adoption of less efficient networks taking the Cape of Good Hope to connect Asia and Europe.

The lines are the latest to plan networks for the eventuality that Red Sea transits become safe and viable again. MSC, Maersk’s current alliance partner, announced its standalone East-West network from February 2025, which includes routes via Suez. Premier Alliance, which is made up of Hapag-Lloyd’s former partners HMM, ONE, and Yang Ming, also announced its network plans including a slot exchange agreement with MSC on Asia-Europe trades.

Gemini’s trans-Suez network would use around 300 vessels of 3.4m teu capacity across 57 services, comprising 30 shuttle and 27 mainliners, compared to the 58 services envisaged by the alliance in January 2024.

Related:Gemini alliance agreement goes into effect despite FMC concerns

The Cape of Good Hope network would use around 340 vessels of 3.7m teu capacity, with 59 services comprising 29 mainliners and 30 shuttles. 

“Reliability, connectivity and sustainability are the keywords in the networks we are presenting today, and we are pleased that we now can give our customers full transparency about how we will deliver a best-in-class ocean network so they can begin planning despite a highly dynamic situation,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.

“We are looking forward to the launch of our completely redesigned network next year, and we are happy to reconfirm that our schedule reliability target remains unchanged irrespective of which network we will phase in. We believe our collaboration will raise the bar for reliability to the benefit of our customers and set a new and very high standard in the industry,” said Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk.