Two of the top container carriers in Europe have decided to enter a cooperation agreement next year. As of February 2025, Danish Maersk and German Hapag-Lloyd will work together as part of the new Gemini Alliance.

While the two counterparts see themselves as equals in the shipping sector, their vessel deployment will not be the same.

According to the carrier's statement, the new agreement between the two will comprise a fleet of around 290 vessels with a combined capacity of 3.4 million TEU. However, Maersk will deploy 60% and Hapag-Lloyd 40% of the planned capacity.

As part of its partnership with Maersk, analysts claim Hapag-Lloyd will have to redistribute the movement of its cargo in accordance with the new network.

Hamburg Port will receive "a little bit less cargo"

One important aspect raised by local media was how the new alliance would affect German ports. The liner mentioned the agreement would prove beneficial to German ports in general, but Hamburg Port is set to lose business.

During the press conference held after the announcement, Hapag-Lloyd's CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said, "Our best guesstimate today is that there will be a little bit less cargo that will come to Hamburg, but the cargo that in total will come to German ports will go up."

Because Hapag-Lloyd is based in Hamburg and a co-owner of one of the port's terminals, the Altenwerder Terminal, a significant part of the company's business moved through the port.

However, Hamburg Port is expected to lose 10% of the cargo from Hapag-Lloyd once the agreement comes into effect. "Overall, probably a ten percent-ish cargo impact," Jansen said.

Altenwerder terminal will feature five out of 26 mainline services

The new cooperation will cover multiple trade lanes. Two of the main routes will be the Transatlantic and the Asia-US East Coast, with five services each.

However, Hamburg Port will play a role in only five of the total 26 main services planned for the alliance's network, according to Linerlytica data. In addition, it will be excluded from 14 European shuttle services.

German news outlet, the Wirtschafts Woche, claimed Hpag-Lloyd started cancelling several deliveries to the country's largest port. However, this was not confirmed by the carrier.

Meanwhile, the Port of Hamburg reported the news without further commenting on the potential impact on its business.