Hapag-Lloyd and Zim will launch a new Asia-South America East Coast 3 (AS3)/ZIM Falcon Service (ZFS) to connect Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Yantian, Rio Grande, Paranagua, Itajai, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai from 13 September 2026. The service was first announced by Zim on 2 July 2026 and was to be operated exclusively by Zim but the plan has been changed with Hapag-Lloyd joining the service and a revised port rotation that will include a new call at Xiamen and Rio Grande replacin
ONE will withdraw its standalone West India North America (WIN) service that calls at Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Colombo, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Jacksonville, Charleston, Mundra from the end of July 2026. The service currently operates on an irregular frequency with sailings every 10 to 25 days using 6 ships of 6,300 teu to 7,100 teu on a 13 week round trip rotation. HMM, COSCO and OOCL takes slots on the service branded respectively as the IAX, IPE2 and IEX2. The last sailing is scheduled with
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will return to the Suez route on their jointly operated Gemini AE15/SE3 service on a truncated rotation that will call at Qingdao, Kwangyang, Ningbo, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Said Damietta, Colombo, Singapore, Qingdao with calls at Canakkale, Yarimca and Ambarli to be omitted. The revised rotation takes immediate effect with the sailing of the 19,076 teu MAJESTIC MAERSK that has already departed from Qingdao on 8 June 2026 now on its way to the Suez with an unscheduled stop
Hapag-Lloyd has launched a new Poland Germany Express (PGX) service connecting Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Gdynia, Hamburg from 22 April 2026. The service is operated independently by Hapag-Lloyd and turns in 14 days using the 2,824 teu AS CLAUDIA and 2,826 teu IRENES REMEDY. It replaces the former Poland Germany Shuttle (PGS) that is operated together with Maersk as part of the Gemini Cooperation's Europe Shuttle 16, calling the same rotation without the call at Bremerhaven.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have amended their Gemini Cooperation Agreement to modify the timing of discussions regarding potential seasonal blank sailings with the new arrangement taking effect from March 2026. Under the previous terms of the agreement that started from 1 February 2025, the 2 carriers are authorised to blank sailings only during Chinese New Year or Chinese Golden Week provided such agreement is reached no later than 12 weeks prior to the scheduled date of the sailing. The revised
Gemini Cooperation partners Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk will launch a new Far East-Med-Red Sea SE4/AE19 service via the Cape of Good Hope calling at Xingang, Qingdao, Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Tanjung Pelepas, Tangier Med, Port Said, Jeddah, Tangier Med, Singapore, Xingang from 13 March 2026. The service will cater to high demand to the Red Sea due to the Iran crisis that started on 28 February 2028. The service will turn in 16 weeks and will deploy up to 16 ships of 10,000 to 13,000 teu from Maersk
Hapag-Lloyd announced on 16 February an agreement to acquire ZIM, through a structure that involves the Israeli private equity investor FIMI Opportunity Funds. The completion of the transaction will be subject to agreement by the Israeli government as well as additional regulatory approvals and the consent of the shareholders’ meeting of ZIM. The announcement follows leaks by Israeli media over the weekend with Hapag-Lloyd confirming on 15 February that it is in advanced discussions to acquire
The Gemini Cooperation's Indian Subcontinent Mediterranean Express (IMEX) / Middle East-Europe 11 (ME11) service will change from its current Cape routing to a revised Suez routing in both directions from February 2026. The revised IMEX/ME11 will call at Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Salalah, Port Said, Tangier Med, Valencia, Port Said, Salalah, Jebel Ali, Mundra. It will turn in 63 days using 9 ships of 15,200 to 15,800 teu that are all operated by Maersk even though it is marketed as a joint service u
The Gemini Cooperation partners Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk remain at the bottom of the EBIT margin ranking amongst the main publicly listed carriers, lagging behind their industry peers by as much as 20%. The high cost of maintaining the superior schedule reliability of the Gemini network and their inability to secure any freight rate premium have continued to drag down the 2 carriers’ operating performance.
Hapag-Lloyd has launched a new Malaysia Singapore Feeder (MSF) service connecting Penang, Port Klang, Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Penang from 28 October 2025 using the 1,930 teu NORDSERAPHINA. The MSF service will turn in 7 days to provide dedicated feeder connections to Hapag-Lloyd and Gemini Cooperation services at Tanjung Pelepas and Singapore.