Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk signed an agreement for a new long-term operational collaboration called Gemini Cooperation, aiming to start in February 2025.
Simultaneous with the announcement, Hapag-Lloyd informed its partners in THE Alliance that it would end its participation in January 2025. In a press call with journalists, Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO, Hapag-Lloyd stressed this is “not a decision against THE Alliance, this is a decision for Gemini Corporation.”
“This is about bringing schedule reliability to the next level,” and according to Jansen he expects “schedule reliability to be 90%+ once fully phased in. We realized we had to do more on quality and customer satisfaction as well as sustainability.”
In the short term, the Hapag-Lloyd boss does not see that the new cooperation will impact the fleet, current and future, though he did admit that longer term, the Gemini Cooperation could have an impact when Hapag-Lloyd considers the number, size and types of vessels they need.
As it currently stands, when it starts in 2025, pending regulatory approvals expected in Q3 2024, the cooperation will including 290 ships and 3.4m TEU capacity, with Maersk accounting for 60% and Hapag-Lloyd 40%
Gemini Cooperation “by the Numbers”