Container shipping companies adjust their services in response to market dynamics and operational hurdles. Stay informed of upcoming changes with Kuehne+Nagel's carrier service update, published bi-weekly on Sea News and seaexplorer.
New & updated services
Asia↔Mediterranean/Black Sea
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd revised the routing of the AE15/SE3 Gemini service. It will now sail via the trans-Suez route instead of transiting via the Cape of Good Hope. The first sailing was the Majestic Maersk. As of August, the service will also add a port call in Jeddah.
- Carrier service name: AE15/SE3
- Port rotation: Qingdao – Kwangyang – Ningbo – Tanjung Pelepas – Port Said – Damietta – Colombo – Singapore – Qingdao
- First sailing: 06 Jul 2026
Asia↔North America
Maersk revised the port rotation of the MECL service. The service will now sail via the trans-Suez route instead of transiting via the Cape of Good Hope.
- Carrier service name: MECL
- Port rotation: Charleston – Savannah – Houston – Norfolk – Newark – Tangiers – Jeddah – Salalah – Mundra – Pipavav – Nhava Sheva – Charleston
- First sailing: 09 Jul 2026
Asia↔Oceania
Maersk will launch the Ojilin service connecting Asia and Oceania. The number of ships and average capacity of this service will be 5 vessels with an average capacity between 2,500 and 2,800 TEU.
- Carrier service name: Ojilin
- Port rotation: Shanghai - Sydney - Melbourne - Shanghai
- First sailing: 24 Jul 2026
Asia↔South America
Maersk launched the Far East-West Coast South America AC1 service. The number of ships and average capacity of this service is 8 vessels with an average capacity between 3,400 and 4,600 TEU.
- Carrier service name: Far East-West Coast South America AC1
- Port rotation: Ningbo - Busan - Lázaro Cárdenas - Buenaventura - Guayaquil - Ningbo
- First sailing: 04 Jul 2026
ZIM will launch a new service to connect Asia to the East Coast of South America. The service will deploy vessels with an average vessel capacity of 6,500 TEU.
- Carrier service name: ZFS
- Port rotation: Shanghai - Ningbo - Hong Kong - Yantian - Rio de Janeiro - Santos - Paranagua - Navegantes - Montevideo - Buenos Aires - Shanghai
- First sailing: 13 Sep 2026
Intra-Asia
Evergreen will launch a new service to connect Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia. The service will deploy three vessels with an average vessel capacity of 2,000 TEU.
- Carrier service name: CPX
- Port rotation: Rizhao - Shanghai - Hong Kong - Cebu - Davao - Rizhao
- First sailing: 31 Jul 2026
Intra-Indian Subcontinent
Hapag-Lloyd revised the port rotation of the India Gulf Service 1 (IG1). The service operates with a revised rotation following the temporary suspension announced on 6 March 2026 and as part of ongoing network adjustments in the Middle East region. The first vessel to operate the revised rotation is the Lisbon Express.
- Carrier service name: IG1
- Port rotation: Kandla - Nhava Sheva - Karachi - Khorfakkan - Sohar - Kandla
- First sailing: 20 Jul 2026
Intra-North Europe
On the SCX service, ONE will replace the port call at Copenhagen with Kalundborg. The service deploys two vessels with an average vessel capacity of 1,400 TEU.
- Carrier service name: SCX
- Port rotation: Aarhus - Kalundborg - Antwerp - Rotterdam - Gothenburg - Helsingborg - Aarhus
- First sailing: 03 Oct 2026
CMA CGM added port calls at Marsaxlokk, Gebze and Benghazi and increased the number of deployed vessels from two to four on the TULYB service. With the revised rotation, the service deploys four vessels with an average vessel capacity of 2,400 TEU.
- Carrier service name: TULYB
- Port rotation: Ambarli - Gebze - Gemlik - Aliaga - Piraeus - Alexandria - Marsaxlokk - Misurata - Benghazi - Ambarli
- First sailing: 04 Jul 2026
Intra-South America
COSCO/Evergreen revised the port rotation of the Intra-West Coast Central America service – MCX. COSCO and Evergreen added a port call at Buenaventura and, effective September 2026, will add a port call at Balboa. The service deploys four vessels with an average vessel capacity of 2,400 TEU.
- Carrier service name: MCX
- Port rotation: Puerto Caldera - Buenaventura - Balboa - Corinto - San Lorenzo - Lázaro Cárdenas - Manzanillo (Mexico) - Puerto Quetzal - Acajutla - Puerto Caldera
- First sailing: 12 Jul 2026
Mediterranean/Black Sea↔Africa
ONE and HMM launched a new service to connect the Mediterranean to West Africa, initially on a fortnightly basis and becoming weekly in September 2026. The service deploys five vessels with an average vessel capacity of 2,500 TEU.
- Carrier service name: MAX
- Port rotation: Algeciras - Tangier - Dakar - Tema - Lekki - Abidjan - Algeciras
- First sailing: 08 Jul 2026
North America↔Middle East/Indian Subcontinent
ONE will revise the service offering between West India and the East Coast of North America by replacing the WIN (West India North America) service with the new INE (India North America Express) service. It will suspend the WIN service and introduce the INE service from August 2026.
- Carrier service name: INE
- Port rotation: Nhava Sheva – Mundra – Salalah – New York – Norfolk – Savannah – Charleston – Nhava Sheva
- First sailing: 01 Aug 2026
North Europe↔Africa
CMA CGM will launch a new service to connect North Europe to West Africa. The service will deploy six vessels with an average vessel capacity of 3,600 TEU.
- Carrier service name: KORA
- Port rotation: Southampton - Vlissingen - Antwerp - Tangier - Algeciras - Tema - Lekki - Cotonou - Dakar - Southampton
- First sailing: 26 Aug 2026
North Europe↔Mediterranean/Black Sea
Hapag-Lloyd (HLCU) to revise the port rotation of the East Med Express (EMX) service. Effective from week 36, Hamburg, Germany, will be replaced by Wilhelmshaven, Germany, in the service rotation
- Carrier service name: EMX
- Port rotation: Felixstowe - Wilhelmshaven - Bremerhaven - Antwerp - Piraeus - Izmit - Istanbul - Gemlik - Aliağa - Felixstowe
- First sailing: 01 Aug 2026
North Europe↔Middle East/Indian Subcontinent
CMA CGM/COSCO/OOCL revised the port rotation of the Europe-ISC/MEA service – EPIC. The service added a fortnightly port call at Duqm, with the temporary rotation in effect at least until October 2026. The service deploys thirteen vessels with an average vessel capacity of 11,000 TEU.
- Carrier service name: EPIC
- Port rotation: Jeddah - Duqm (fortnightly) - Mundra - Nhava Sheva - Sohar - Tangier - Southampton - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Antwerp - Le Havre - Algeciras - Jeddah
- First sailing: 14 Jul 2026
North Europe↔North America
As of 16 July 2026, the AL4 service operates with a revised port rotation for cargo moving between North Europe and North America. The first vessel to call Southampton under the revised rotation was the Maersk Danube.
- Carrier service name: AL4
- Port rotation: Southampton - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Bremerhaven - Wilhelmshaven - Veracruz - Altamira - Miami - Southampton
- First sailing: 16 Jul 2026
Gemini Cooperation will revise the port rotation of the TA4/AL4 service by changing the order of port calls at Antwerp and Rotterdam and replacing Hamburg with Bremerhaven. The service will deploy seven vessels with an average vessel capacity of 5,800 TEU.
- Carrier service name: TA4
- Port rotation: Southampton - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Bremerhaven - Wilhelmshaven - Veracruz - Altamira - Miami - Southampton
- First sailing: 23 Jul 2026
For more point-to-point service options, including transit times across major ocean carriers, refer to seaexplorer.
