As part of this agreement, the Danish carrier will exit the 2M Alliance and the German carrier will withdraw from the THE Alliance in January of the same year.
The new partnership will consist of a fleet of approximately 290 ships, with a total capacity of 3.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Maersk will contribute 60% of the ships and Hapag-Lloyd with the remaining 40%. The main goal of this collaboration is to provide a reliable, adaptable and interconnected ocean network.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two organizations have set a goal of achieving program reliability of more than 90 percent once the network is fully deployed.
This partnership will include seven trade routes, namely: Asia – US West Coast, Asia – US East Coast, Asia – Middle East, Asia – Mediterranean, Asia – Northern Europe, Middle East – India – Europe and Transatlantic.
The network will consist of 26 mainline services, including dedicated shuttles operating from owned and/or controlled transhipment centres. These include 14 shuttle services in Europe, four in the Middle East, 13 in Asia and one in the Gulf of Mexico.
According to Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen, the partnership with Maersk will improve the quality of service offered to customers. Furthermore, operations will be more efficient and the sector will see increased efforts to accelerate the decarbonization process through collaboration.
According to Vincent Clerc, a. d. of Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd is the perfect oceanic ally for their strategic plans.
Through this partnership, our customers will have access to a versatile ocean network, setting a new standard for reliability in the industry. This will improve our comprehensive logistics services and effectively meet our customers’ demands. The aim of the collaboration is to improve the quality of services, reduce transit times on key port-to-port routes and offer access to world-class ocean hubs.
Both companies have pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from their fleets, with Maersk aiming to reach net zero by 2040 and Hapag-Lloyd by 2045.
In 2024, the duo will manage the transition from the current partnerships to the new operational collaboration and at the same time, they will maintain their commitment to serving customers according to existing agreements. According to Maersk, the Gemini cycles will be modified to reduce the risk of disruption by reducing the number of ports of call. Furthermore, ship operator structures will be simplified and Maersk or Hapag-Lloyd will be the sole operators for most liner services. Additionally, there will be an increase in the use of APM terminal facilities for a greater portion of stopovers.
