Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd Move Four More Gemini Services Back Through Suez

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are moving four more Gemini Cooperation services from the Cape of Good Hope to the Suez Canal, starting with a westbound sailing from Tanjung Pelepas on 19 September. The partners sell the same loops under different names. Maersk’s AE5, AE11, AE12 and ME2 are Hapag-Lloyd’s NE4, SE2, SE1 and IEX.

Teams holding bookings with both carriers have to translate those codes before counting their Suez exposure, and the shorter routing adds a timing problem on top. A Suez sailing can reach Europe up to two weeks ahead of Cape vessels already at sea on the same loop, so containers can arrive in a different order from the one their trucking and warehouse slots were planned around.

What Changes on AE5, AE11, AE12 and ME2

Maersk’s advisory of 14 September moves all four services to the trans-Suez route in both directions. They join AE15 and AE19, the two Gemini services already routing through the canal.

Maersk service	Hapag-Lloyd service	Trade	Rotation as published
AE5	NE4	Asia to North Europe	Qingdao – Ningbo – Tanjung Pelepas – Suez Canal – London – Bremerhaven – Hamburg – Rotterdam – Algeciras – Suez Canal – Tanjung Pelepas
AE11	SE2	Asia to Mediterranean	Shanghai – Yantian – Tanjung Pelepas – Suez Canal – Port Tangier – Valencia – Barcelona – La Spezia – Genoa – Vado Ligure – Suez Canal – Singapore
AE12	SE1	Asia to Mediterranean	Ningbo – Shanghai – Tanjung Pelepas – Suez Canal – Algeciras – Koper – Rijeka – Algeciras – Suez Canal – Singapore
ME2	IEX	India to Europe	Ennore – Colombo – Suez Canal – Algeciras – Rotterdam – London – Hamburg – Port Tangier – Suez Canal – Colombo

Rotations from Maersk’s advisory of 14 September 2026. Hapag-Lloyd service names from Hapag-Lloyd’s routing update.

Both carriers make the change conditional on continued stability in the Red Sea and no further escalation in the region. Hapag-Lloyd told Seatrade Maritime News that Suez transits remain limited across its network, with most of its services still sailing around the Cape. A Hapag-Lloyd booking portfolio can therefore hold both routings at once.

First Sailings Start on Different Dates by Direction

The carrier advisories name the first vessel to take the Suez routing on each service and direction.

Service (Maersk / Hapag-Lloyd)	Direction	First vessel and voyage	Last call	ETD
AE11 / SE2	Westbound	Antonia Maersk 635W	Tanjung Pelepas	19 Sep 2026
AE5 / NE4	Westbound	Marchen Maersk 635W	Tanjung Pelepas	21 Sep 2026
ME2 / IEX	Westbound	Cornelia Maersk 638W	Colombo	24 Sep 2026 (Maersk); 19 Sep 2026 (Hapag-Lloyd)
AE5 / NE4	Eastbound	Maastricht Maersk 637E	Algeciras	22 Sep 2026
AE11 / SE2	Eastbound	Maersk Halifax 637E	Vado Ligure	28 Sep 2026
ME2 / IEX	Eastbound	Cornelia Maersk 643E	Port Tangier	31 Oct 2026
AE12 / SE1	Both	To be announced	To be announced	To be announced

First trans-Suez sailings published by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. The carriers currently give different departure dates for Cornelia Maersk 638W on ME2/IEX.

The westbound switches begin in the second half of September. Eastbound, the first published Suez sailings run from 22 September to 31 October, and ME2/IEX carries the widest directional gap. Its first eastbound Suez sailing is Cornelia Maersk 643E from Port Tangier on 31 October.

For the first westbound ME2/IEX sailing, the carriers currently publish different dates for the same Cornelia Maersk 638W voyage. Maersk lists 24 September from Colombo, while Hapag-Lloyd lists 19 September. Confirm the live vessel schedule against the booking before planning around either date.

AE12, sold by Hapag-Lloyd as SE1, has no first Suez sailing in either direction yet. Until one is published, plan that loop on Cape transit times.

Why Containers Can Arrive Out of Sailing Order

The transit-time gain is what creates the exposure. Xeneta, cited by Seatrade Maritime News on 10 September, put the average Yantian to Rotterdam sailing time at 41 days across nine services routed via the Cape. One vessel that transited Bab el-Mandeb and Suez made the same trip in 27 days.

Xeneta’s warning concerns the changeover period. When a string switches, the first Suez arrivals can land up to 14 days early while Cape vessels on the old schedule are still at sea, and ships bunch at the first port of discharge if that port is unchanged. On the rotations Maersk published, the first European call after Suez is London on AE5, Port Tangier on AE11 and Algeciras on both AE12 and ME2.

Carriers can spread the load by moving the first discharge call, as Maersk did on AE19 when it switched the first call from Tanger Med to Port Said. Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand told the publication this cannot be done on every service, because services are planned around key hubs.

For a cargo owner, the result is that a container can be discharged ahead of cargo that sailed before it on the same loop. Trucking appointments and warehouse receiving slots set against the original ETA fall out of step. Where free time runs from discharge, the clock on an early container also starts sooner than planned.

The code split makes this harder to see across a portfolio. A forwarder with AE11 bookings through Maersk and SE2 bookings through Hapag-Lloyd has cargo on the same vessels, yet a shipment report grouped by service name shows two loops. Grouping by vessel and voyage, then reading each container’s current ETA, shows which boxes now run on the Suez timetable.

If your team is matching Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd bookings to Gemini vessels by hand to work out which containers now run on Suez timings, walk through how ops teams follow vessel and ETA changes at container level across carriers.

A Conditional Return During a Houthi Advance

The announcement came as Houthi forces extended their position along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and around Bab el-Mandeb. James Hookham, director of the Global Shippers’ Forum, told Seatrade Maritime News he was shocked by the timing and questioned whether the carriers had received any assurance from the Houthis that the ships would not be attacked.

Shippers’ concern covers cost as well as crew safety, since a second diversion back around the Cape would bring its own disruption. Maersk has already reversed a broader Red Sea return once this year. It said it suspended Red Sea services on 1 March, the day after the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, and has conducted a limited number of Red Sea sailings since 31 May.

We laid out the watch list for that reversal clause when AE15 made the same move in July, in AE15 Went Back to Suez the Day After a Red Sea Attack. The four services switching now carry the same condition.

What to Re-Check This Week

Translate every open Gemini booking to its pair (AE5/NE4, AE11/SE2, AE12/SE1, ME2/IEX) before counting Suez exposure across Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.
Group bookings by vessel and voyage, and flag any container on the first Suez sailings listed above.
Re-pull the ETA for containers on those sailings and on Cape sailings of the same loops already at sea. Do not assume the original arrival order holds.
For cargo discharging at London, Port Tangier or Algeciras, watch berth waits in the weeks the first Suez sailings arrive.
Where free time runs from discharge, recalculate the last free day from the revised discharge date.
For Europe to India cargo on ME2/IEX, plan on Cape transit times until the 31 October sailing from Port Tangier.
Keep AE12/SE1 bookings on Cape transit times until a first Suez sailing is published.
Hold a Cape-routing fallback in delivery plans. Both carriers tie the switch to no further escalation in the region.

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