Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s Gemini Cooperation is routing four more Asia-Europe services through the Suez Canal, bringing its total there to six. Gemini told customers in an advisory that the Suez and Red Sea route is “the fastest, most sustainable and most efficient way to serve customers between Asia and Europe.”
A shipper planning Asia-Europe transit times has more of Gemini’s network back on the faster canal route, but still has to plan for any of these services reverting to the slower Cape of Good Hope route if security worsens again.
The four services are AE5, a flagship Asia-North Europe string; AE11 and AE12, both Asia-Mediterranean; and ME2, running India-Europe. Three already have ships underway on the new routing:
AE11’s first Suez-routed ship, the Antonia Maersk, left Tanjung Pelepas on Sept 19
AE5’s first ship, the Marchen Maersk, followed on Sept 21
ME2’s first ship, the Cornelia Maersk, left Colombo on Sept 24
Sea-Intelligence estimates 18% of Asia-Europe capacity heading to Europe is now routed through the canal, versus 38% of the capacity heading back to Asia, according to The Loadstar. The firm calls the broader Red Sea disruption 27% normalized.
MSC made a similar move a month earlier, returning five of its own Asia-Europe services to the canal in a customer advisory citing a review of Red Sea security conditions. Gemini has taken this same cautious, one-service-at-a-time approach since July: AE15 returned first, then AE19 in August. These four services are the next step.
Gemini’s other Asia-North Europe mainline strings still sail around the Cape of Good Hope.
