Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd to partner on Africa route avoiding Red Sea
Gemini Cooperation will use the Cape of Good Hope network, which has been the alternative transit route for hundreds of vessels since the Houthis stepped up their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea in mid-November 2023.
European container shipping giants A.P. Moller Maersk A/S and Hapag-Lloyd AG plan to begin their transit partnership sailing south of Africa in February 2025, indicating that they expect the disruption caused by attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen to last well into next year.
The partnership, dubbed the Gemini Cooperation, will use the Cape of Good Hope network, which has been the alternative transit route for hundreds of vessels since the Houthis stepped up their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea in mid-November 2023, in what the Iran-backed militia said was in response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
Gemini Cooperation was first announced in January by the two shipping firms, which include two joint east-west networks, the Trans-Suez network and the Cape of Good Hope network, depending on the accessibility through the Red Sea.
The partnership will help both logistics companies improve the reliability of their transits, which have been negatively impacted by the instability in the Red Sea. It will allow both firms' clients to begin planning deliveries despite "a highly dynamic situation," Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said in a statement last month.
