Starting in February 2025, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk will start a new long-term operational collaboration called Gemini Cooperation. The ambition is to deliver a flexible and interconnected ocean network with industry-leading reliability, the two companies said. 

As a consequence of joining this cooperation, Hapag-Lloyd will leave THE Alliance end of January 2025. It is worth reminding that in January 2023, Maersk and MSC announced that the 2M alliance will end in January 2025.

“Teaming up with Maersk will help us to further boost the quality we deliver to our customers. Additionally, we will benefit from efficiency gains in our operations and joint efforts to further accelerate the decarbonisation of our industry,” says Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.

The new cooperation between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk will comprise a fleet pool of around 290 vessels with a combined capacity of 3.4 million containers (TEU); Maersk will deploy 60 per cent and Hapag-Lloyd 40 per cent.

“We are pleased to enter this cooperation with Hapag-Lloyd, which is the ideal ocean partner on our strategic journey. By entering this cooperation, we will be offering our customers a flexible ocean network that will be raising the bar for reliability in the industry. This will strengthen our integrated logistics offering and meet our customers’ needs,” says Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk.

As a part of the agreement, the two companies have set the ambitious target of delivering schedule reliability of above 90 per cent once the network is fully phased in. Both companies also said they are committed to the decarbonisation of their fleets and have set the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the industry with Maersk aiming for net-zero in 2040 and Hapag-Lloyd in 2045.

During 2024, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will plan the transition from their current alliances to the new operational cooperation. Concurrently, service to customers will continue along existing agreements.

According to the two companies, the cooperation will cover seven trades: Asia / US West Coast, Asia / US East Coast, Asia / Middle East, Asia / Mediterranean, Asia / North Europe, Middle East – India / Europe and Transatlantic.

Gemini Cooperation will also comprise 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, the two companies said.