Port Productivity : Best Practices
Special Report
A ‘ clear winner ’
Asian ports at the fore in updated Gemini alliance network schedule
By Keith Wallis
Ports in Asia are among the winners , regaining direct calls on several services , in the Gemini Cooperation ’ s updated service network that offers shippers alternative routings via the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal .
“ The clear winner from the announced new networks appears to be the shippers .”
The new network was announced a day after the US Federal Maritime Commission said the partnership agreement between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd took effect following a lengthy assessment period .
The revised Gemini network also came a day after the new Premier Alliance — comprising soon-to-be former THE Alliance carriers , plus Mediterranean Shipping Co . ( MSC ) as a slot charter partner — announced its February 2025 service schedule . That schedule also gave Suez and southern Africa routings , but it focused
on direct port-to-port calls , as opposed to Gemini ’ s huband-spoke approach .
Gemini said it will announce in October whether the Cape of Good Hope or Suez Canal option would be used when the alliance is formally launched next February . The carriers said the alternative Cape of Good Hope network around southern Africa was released “ due to the ongoing disruptions in the Red Sea .”
The Suez Canal-based network would provide 27 mainline and 30 shuttle services using a combined fleet of 300 ships totaling 3.4 million TEUs on seven east-west trades covering Asia-US , Asia-North Europe , Asia-Mediterranean , Asia-Middle East , Middle East-India , Europe and the trans-Atlantic .
The Cape of Good Hope network covers the same seven trades but involves 341 ships totaling 3.7 million TEUs deployed on 29 mainline and 30 shuttle services .
The extra vessels on the southern Africa routing give “ an indication of the capacity absorption from the Red Sea crisis ,” Lars Jensen , CEO of Vespucci Maritime and a Journal of Commerce analyst , said in a LinkedIn post .
Jensen pointed out that the Suez network has eight Asia-Europe services , whereas the Cape of Good Hope only has seven services , and the Suez routing has 10 Pacific services , one more than the Cape network .
Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen in August confirmed that tweaks were being made to the Gemini service network for “ operational reasons .”
Regaining hub status
South Korea ’ s Busan and Vung Tau in Vietnam are the main beneficiaries in the new schedules , having won back hub status after being relegated to largely feeder ports
32 Journal of Commerce | October 21 , 2024 www . joc . com