Maersk & Hapag Announce New Cooperation Agreement

Maersk and Hapag Lloyd have announced a new cooperation agreement this week that will be introduced from 2025, and which comes as a big surprise to much of the shipping industry.

Maersk and current partners MSC confirmed last year that their 2M vessel sharing alliance agreement will be coming to an end. Communication from both parties seemed to suggest that the world's two largest carriers were going to be operating their own independent networks.

However, Maersk and Hapag have now announced the formation of their ‘Gemini Cooperation’, which will be effective from February 2025. The announcement surprised many as not only were Maersk expected to go solo, but Hapag Lloyd are established members of THE Alliance (THEA), along with ONE, Yang Ming and HMM.

According to reports, the new Gemini Cooperation will operate 26 services covering the world's main shipping routes, and will deploy a collective 290 vessels, providing around 3.4million TEU. Maersk will be contributing 60% of the capacity and Hapag-Lloyd will provide the remaining 40%.

What the future holds for the remaining THEA members is very much unclear. According to some reports, the THEA agreement, which Hapag Lloyd is part of, is not due to expire until 2030.

Maersk's CEO has said that Hapag are “the ideal partner on our strategic journey” and that the agreement would “raise the bar for reliability in the industry”.

The team at Croft Cargo are monitoring developments closely and expect to see more announcements in the coming weeks and months, as other carriers react to this news.

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