Global liner structures up in the air as Maersk forms the Gemini Cooperation with Hapag-Lloyd

The global liner alliance structures are being torn up with news today Maersk has tapped German peer Hapag-Lloyd to form a new coalition.

Maersk’s existing partnership with Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), 2M, is due to expire in a year’s time and the Danish liner has been actively seeking a partner to plug capacity gaps.

In forming the so-called Gemini Cooperation with Hapag-Lloyd from February next year, members of THE Alliance, where the German carrier currently resides, will see the exit of its largest carrier.

THE Alliance was founded in 2016. Its membership today is made up of Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Yang Ming. THE Alliance is one of three global liner alliances along with 2M and the Ocean Alliance, whose members comprise CMA CGM, Evergreen, and COSCO.

“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,” said 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 3.4m teu; Maersk will deploy 60% and Hapag-Lloyd 40%.

The cooperation will comprise 26 mainline services, covering seven trades: Asia / US west coast, Asia / US east coast, Asia / Middle East, Asia / Mediterranean, Asia / North Europe, Middle East – India / Europe and the transatlantic.

Commenting via LinkedIn on the news, Lars Jensen, a former Maersk employee turned liner consultant with Vespucci Maritime, noted: “Alliances tend to have a lifespan of roughly 5-8 years, and hence the re-alignment we are seeing now will most likely be the competitive playing field on the east-west services into the early 2030s.”

Jensen said Hapag-Lloyd’s decision to ditch ONE, Yang Ming, and HMM left the trio in a “very vulnerable position”, unable to field a network matching those of the Ocean Alliance, standalone MSC or Gemini.

“The pressure is then on these three carriers to either lure a new partner out from Ocean Alliance or re-invent a new service concept,” Jensen suggested.