In the new Gemini alliance between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven are set as port hubs, but Hamburg is not. Nevertheless, a new service is coming to the Elbe.
The Gemini Cooperation, the new liner alliance between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, is sending another service to Hamburg. This is the “ME2/IEX” between Northern Europe and the Indian subcontinent, which is being relaunched these days.
Originally, the ships were supposed to call at Bremerhaven before the plans were changed at short notice, reports Alphaliner. The first departure of this round trip from Colombo (Sri Lanka) took place last week with the 9,962 TEU “Maersk Stadelhorn”, five days after the official launch of the network.
The “ME2/ID” will connect the ports of Colombo, Ennore (Chennai), Algeciras, Rotterdam, London-Gateway and Hamburg in a transit time of eleven weeks before returning to Colombo via Tangier Med.
Maersk is providing all eleven ships for the new service. The capacities vary between 8,400 TEU and 10,600 TEU.
Gemini comprises 340 ships
In addition to the Hamburg service, there is a second route between Northern Europe and the Indian subcontinent. The “ME1/IOS” service, which also covers Salalah and Jebel Ali in the Middle East and calls at the Indian ports of Mundra and Nhava Sheva, is again operated by Hapag-Lloyd alone. Twelve ships with capacities between 13,470 TEU and 15,440 TEU will be deployed.
Gemini’s hub-and-spoke concept with a total of 340 ships combines 28 mainliner services between the world’s most important ports in the network (hubs) with 29 shuttle services (spoke) for the distribution of cargo in the respective region. 13 of these operate in Europe, 10 in Asia, 4 in the Middle East and 1 in America.
While Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven as hubs can expect more cargo as a result, a decline had been announced for Hamburg. It had been said that transshipment cargo in particular would migrate to Wilhelmshaven.
