Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk Signs Agreement For 3.4 Million Container Alliance
Maersk, a Danish shipping and logistics company in a blog post on Wednesday announced that it has entered into a new operational collaboration with Hapag-Lloyd, a German international shipping and container transportation company. The two companies said that they signed the long-term collaboration, and it will start from February 2025 with a combined capacity of 3.4 million containers.
Maersk’s blog said that the decision to long-term operational collaboration was considering the fluctuating markets and supply chain disturbance. “Geopolitical events and demand changes continue to highlight the need for reliability as a cornerstone in supply chains,” it said noting the importance of the collaboration.
The agreement called “Gemini Cooperation” aims to develop “a new best-in-class network.” As per the agreement, the two companies have set the ambitious target of delivering schedule reliability of above 90% once the network is fully phased in, the blog said. The cooperation will cover 7 trades: Asia / North Europe, Asia / Mediterranean, Middle East – India / Europe, Asia / Middle East, Asia / US East Coast, Asia / US West Coast and Transatlantic, it added.
Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of Hapag-Lloyd, said his company would benefit from productivity gains in operations and combined efforts to further enhance the decarbonisation of the industry. Furthermore, Vincent Clerc, chief executive of Maersk said the deal will strengthen integrated logistics offerings and make the services more reliable, Routers reported.
The shared pool, consisting of the world”s fifth- and second-largest container ship operators respectively, will include 290 vessels of which Maersk will deploy 60% and Hapag-Lloyd 40%.
As a result of the new agreement, Hapag-Lloyd will leave the shipping alliance called THE Alliance at the end of January 2025, which it has been associating with three merged Japanese lines called Ocean Network Express (ONE), YangMing of Taiwan (2609. TW) and South Korean HHM (011200. KS).
According to the report, the current arrangement of operational responses to attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi is unlikely to have been a factor in the deal, Routers reported citing sources familiar with the deal. However, both Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk had decided to dodge the Red Sea route following the threat posed by Houthis.
