The Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd is introducing a new Asia–West Mediterranean container service via the Suez Canal in November, as the shipping partners continue to restructure their Asia–Europe network and gradually restore operations through the Red Sea corridor.
The new service, designated AE18 by Maersk and SE5 by Hapag-Lloyd, will connect Shanghai and Xiamen in China with Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia and key western Mediterranean transshipment hubs, including Algeciras in Spain and Tangier Med in Morocco.
The first sailing is scheduled for November 22, with the 13,100-TEU Maersk Edirne departing Shanghai. The service is designed to complement Gemini’s existing Asia–Europe routes and strengthen the role of western Mediterranean hubs in handling transshipment cargo.
The planned port rotation is Shanghai–Xiamen–Tanjung Pelepas–Algeciras–Tangier Med–Algeciras–Xiamen, with vessels transiting the Suez Canal in both directions. The service will consolidate Gemini’s western Mediterranean hub coverage while adding Xiamen to the network.
The launch forms part of a broader November network restructuring. Maersk will revise its AE2 and AE11 services, while AE19 will replace Shanghai with Nansha and add a call at Damietta in Egypt. These adjustments are intended to improve connections between Asia, Europe, West Africa and the east coast of Latin America.
The move also signals the carriers’ continued, gradual return to the Suez Canal route, which offers shorter transit times between Asia and Europe than sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen has indicated that most Gemini services could return to Suez during the first quarter of 2027, provided security conditions remain stable.
For shippers and freight forwarders, the new service is expected to strengthen regional transshipment options, improve connections to secondary markets and provide greater flexibility in managing cargo flows across the Asia–Mediterranean trade lane. However, the implementation and continued use of the Suez route will remain subject to operational schedules and security assessments.