DP World Southampton has welcomed the first ship to arrive under the Gemini Cooperation arrangement.
The MV Leonidio arrived at the Southampton logistics hub on 3 February as part of its first rotation on the Gemini Transatlantic AL1/AT3 service and will call at the ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Wilhelmshaven in Northern Europe before crossing the Atlantic to dock in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Saint John in the United States and Canada.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced the Gemini Cooperation in January 2024 to strengthen the reliability of their East-West shipping networks, reduce the number of port calls in mainliner services, and implement a hub and spoke network design to improve global supply chain efficiency.
As part of its relationship with DP World, Gemini will now handle all of its Middle East-Europe and Asia-Europe services at London Gateway, as well as its Trans-Atlantic services at Southampton. The first Gemini ship on the Asia-Europe route will arrive at London Gateway in the coming weeks.
Gary Jeffreys, Managing Director – Maersk UK & Ireland, said: “It’s exciting to see our Gemini ocean network going live now after more than a year of thorough planning and preparation.
“It’s an absolute innovative network design in our ocean industry with the overall goal of delivering more robust and resilient ocean services to our customers. Besides using our own hub ports, we are excited to partner with terminal operators like DP World who can help us deliver the reliability.”
Cameron Bowie, Managing Director – Hapag-Lloyd UK & Ireland, added: “With the Gemini Cooperation network officially launched, it is great to see the first Hapag-Lloyd vessel ‘MV Leonidio’ arrive in Southampton. The AL1/AT3 service is one of 57 services in the Gemini network and highlights our commitment to optimizing global shipping routes.
“Our goal is ambitious yet clear: to achieve industry-leading reliability of over 90 per cent by summer 2025. The success of Gemini depends on more than ships and schedules. It’s also about good and strong collaborations we have with our ports and terminals.”
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd AG formally launched the Gemini Cooperation on 1 February.
