Container lines to send Majestic Maersk vessel via Red Sea and Suez Canal following security assessments
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have announced that one of their Gemini joint venture services will resume sailing via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, instead of transiting via the Cape of Good Hope.
The decision to resume trans-Suez shipments with the partners’ AE15 service, starting with the Majestic Maersk, follows “thorough assessments” of the security situation in the Red Sea area.
The companies said the move marked “a step towards a gradual return” to what was previously a vital transport corridor for trade between Europe and Asia.
As a result, AE15 will have the rotation: Qingdao, Kwangyang, Ningbo, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Said, Damietta, Colombo, Singapore.
“The Suez Canal is a vital maritime corridor between East and West and a key driver of efficient global supply chains,” the lines said in a letter to customers. “The route through the Suez and the Red Sea is the fastest, most sustainable and most efficient way to serve customers with transport between Asia and Europe.”
By making the change, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will hope to offer more efficient transit times for those customers, although tensions in the Gulf region to remain.
“Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will continue to monitor the security situation in the Middle East region very closely, and any alteration to services within the Gemini Cooperation will remain dependent on the ongoing stability in the Red Sea area and the absence of any escalation in conflicts in the region,” they said. “The safety of the crew, the vessels, and customers’ cargo remains the highest priority.”
They added: “Should the security situation deteriorate, which may necessitate reverting individual sailings or the wider structural change of the service back to the Cape of Good Hope route, we have contingency plans in place. When we are ready to make further changes to the Gemini network, we will inform you accordingly.”
The Gemini Cooperation is a strategic shipping alliance launched by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in February 2025.
It covers the major east-west trades that link Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Americas, combining the carriers’ networks with the aim of improving reliability and reducing transit times.
