A new ocean loop connecting India and China is the latest in a series of Gemini-linked regional service expansions by Hapag-Lloyd, ahead of the 1 February launch of the carrier’s alliance with Maersk.
The intra-Asia India-Asia Express (IAX) will have a single port call in India, at Mundra, with relay options over hubs in Singapore and China, while the full IAX port rotation will be Mundra-Singapore-Qingdao-Tianjin-Xingang-Busan-Mundra; the X Press Odyssey named as making the first sailing, with an ETA of 16 February at Mundra.
The new service comes via a slot charter deal with Maersk, involving a weekly space allocation of 400 teu for Hapag-Lloyd, local industry sources said.
Sources believe the IAX could be a replacement for the PS3 service Hapag-Lloyd operated with Singapore-based ONE prior to the Gemini Cooperation. The final PS3 sailing leaves India next week.
For Hapag-Lloyd, there seems to be a multi-pronged network approach behind the IAX launch, as it opens an opportunity to move Indian cargo to North America, via transhipment over enhanced Gemini connections calling at Chinese hubs.
The German carrier told customers: “In fact, the cargo bound for North America will connect at Qingdao and Busan.”
Meanwhile, it already has a direct standalone service between West India and North America, branded the TPI.
As the Gemini launch nears, Hapag-Lloyd recently announced a raft of enhancements to its feeder services across Asian trades, adding new port calls to some shuttle loops and opening new strings. The revamped feeder network is scheduled to take port positions from the end of the month through the first half of February.
The shuttle upgrade programme covers: China-Philippines Feeder (CPF), rotating Nansha-Tanjung Pelepas-Singapore-Batangas-Manila-Subic Bay-Nansha; Jakarta Feeder (JKF), rotating Jakarta-Tanjung Pelepas-Singapore-Jakarta; Singapore Surabaya Loop (SS1), rotating Tanjung Pelepas-Singapore-Surabaya-Semarang-Surabaya-Tanjung Pelepas; and Taiwan Express (TWX), rotating Tanjung Pelepas-Singapore-Taichung-Kaohsiung-Tanjung Pelepas.
Limited direct mainline calls are touted as the hallmark of the Gemini Cooperation, using “robust, dedicated” shuttle or feeder networks to relay containers in a hub-and-spoke operation the partners believe will help them deliver 90% schedule reliability.
According to available information, Maersk accounts for 60% of the combined 3.7m teu Gemini capacity, with east-west trades the main focus.