DANISH and German shipping alliances Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have announced plans to launch a new vessel sharing agreement (VSA), reports Fort Lauderdale's Maritime Executive.
Hapag will leave The Alliance at the end of January 2025 at the same time the MSC-Maersk 2M cooperation ends.
The second and fifth biggest containership companies said they would launch a new alliance called Gemini Cooperation in February 2025 as Maersk ends its cooperation with the Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) and Hapag-Lloyd quits The Alliance.
The two companies said the deal will deliver a flexible and interconnected ocean network with a focus on reliability. They emphasised improved transit times and access to a widely connected network of ocean hubs for transshipments.
Maersk announced a year ago that it had agreed to end its 2M deal with MSC as of January 2025 and both companies have spent the past year re-positioning their operations.
The Gemini Cooperation will be a large partnership with dedicated staff and a pool of around 290 vessels. It will have a combined capacity of 3.4 million TEU, with Maersk providing 60 per cent of the capacity and Hapag 40 percent.
It will service seven trades between Asia, the United States, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, North Europe, India, and Transatlantic.
One of the key focuses will be achieving 90 per cent schedule reliability. Sea-Intelligence has consistently highlighted Maersk as being among the leaders and in November 2023 said the company had 65 per cent schedule reliability. Hapag according to Sea-Intelligence has been middle of the pack with a 54 per cent rating. The current average among the top dozen carriers is 60 per cent.
Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said Hapag was an ideal ocean partner. Hapag CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said the move would bring schedule reliability.
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