Last week saw the launch of the Gemini Cooperation, the new liner alliance between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in the East-West trade.
As planned, operations will start on February 1. The booking portals for cargo customers were already activated in December last year. According to their own statements, both shipping companies want to achieve a schedule reliability of 90%, which has not yet been achieved in the industry. The Hamburg-based company recently achieved around 50%.
Gemini offers short transit times with “hub and spoke”
To achieve this, the two “twins” rely on a so-called “hub-and-spoke” concept, as practiced by airlines. 29 mainliner services connect the world’s most important ports in the network with as few stopovers and short transit times as possible. The hubs also include Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven in Germany.
From these hubs, 28 shuttle services take over the distribution of cargo in the respective region. 13 operate in Europe, ten in Asia, four in the Middle East and one in America.
340 ships still operating in the previous alliances will have to be spliced into the new network. Hapag-Lloyd will provide around 40% of the fleet capacity, with Maersk providing the remaining 60%. The changeover is to be completed by June, according to reports.
90% schedule adherence targeted
The aim is to create a fast, flexible and interconnected maritime network that will achieve industry-leading reliability once fully implemented. “We are thus solving one of the most important needs of our customers and want to set a new quality standard,” explains Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. The Gemini Cooperation is also creating new industry standards in terms of sustainability. On the North-South routes, however, the two shipping companies will continue to operate independently or with other partners.
As already announced in October 2024, the Gemini network will initially be rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope. The ships will only return to the route through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal when the security situation permits, it is further stated.
Hapag-Lloyd was previously a member of “THE Alliance”. The remaining partners – ONE (Singapore), HMM (South Korea) and Yang Ming (Taiwan) – will continue as a trio under the new name “Premier Alliance”. Maersk, on the other hand, previously operated under the name “2M”.
MSC, the Danes’ previous partner, is reportedly continuing on its own. The undisputed industry leader now has a fleet capacity of 6.37 million TEU. Gemini deploys 3.7 million TEU in its network. The unchanged “Ocean Alliance” of CMA CGM (France), Cosco (China), OOCL (Hong Kong) and Evergreen (Taiwan) is larger with 5 million TEU. The “Premier Alliance” has around 3.5 million TEU. In some services, however, MSC joins as a partner via a slot charter agreement.
