Red Sea / Suez Update III

The major shipping companies Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk are planning to circumnavigate the Red Sea in future. The companies, which will form the “Gemini Cooperation” alliance from February 2025, recently presented a new route network due to the crisis in the Red Sea.

Hapag-Lloyd has now announced that the new “Cape Network” will be used initially. “Cape” stands for the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of South Africa, along which important shipping routes pass. The press release states that the safety of seafarers, ships and cargo is the top priority. The intention is to sail through the Red Sea again when it is safer. The Houthi in Yemen, who are hostile to Israel, have been attacking ships in the region since fall 2023. Shipping companies need to use more ships to avoid the Red Sea. Around 340 ships are planned for the “Cape Network”. There were around 300 for the other network. 

Hapag-Lloyd from Hamburg and Maersk from Copenhagen announced the alliance at the beginning of the year. “Gemini” means ‘twins’ in Latin and English. The aim of the alliance is to achieve a high level of schedule reliability of more than 90 percent. To this end, the shipping companies are planning fewer port calls on long-distance routes. Maersk is the world’s second-largest shipping company by capacity, Hapag-Lloyd the fifth-largest.

Source: Seefracht Fachportale

Picture: Unsplash