The Gemini Cooperation, an operational partnership between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, has announced that its ME11 Service is returning to Red Sea transit, Maersk said in a 3 Feburary press release.
The ships in question will be the largest to return to the Suez Canal since October 2023, when conflict in Israel and Palestine spurred Houthi attacks of commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The news comes a week after other major shipping concerns reversed course on their announced decisions to return to the passage, which has again become the target of Houthi threats of violence since tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated.
The ships that will be rerouted through the Red Sea transit include the Albert, Hanoi, Alexandra, Houston, Astrid, Cleveland, Herrera, Hamburg, Angelia, and Huacho, all operated by Maersk and carrying Hapag-Lloyd cargo. They are all scheduled to depart between 6 February and 5 March, and Maersk has announced that for some routes, transit times will be improved by between seven and 19 days.
In an announcement to stakeholders, the shipping giant encouraged clients to “review your upcoming bookings on these services and ensure that you have sufficient insurance risk coverage for cargo going through that area.”
Xeneta Senior Shipping Analyst Emily Stausbøll said that the announcement suggests that the two shipping companies are aligned in terms of their Red Sea strategy. She predicted that the return could mean a drop in freight rates.
“The fact Gemini has chosen to return large vessels is important for two reasons. First, the bigger the ship, the more cargo is onboard and potentially the higher the risk. But also, returning vessels to the Red Sea of this size on the ME11 service will free up 31,000 [20-foot equivalent units] of capacity due to full loops via Suez Canal rather than Cape of Good Hope reducing transit times by two weeks, down to 70 days,” Stausbøll said.
