Full Steam Ahead! This setting is shown on the engine telegraph of the Gemini partners, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, that joined forces on 01FEB25. It applies not only to the sailing speed of the approximately 340 container ships jointly managed by the duo, but also to their entire business model. The model is a first in global maritime container shipping, strongly inspired by passenger and air freight traffic. Specifics were recently explained to media people by Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO Hapag-Lloyd, at the famous Hansa Theater in Hamburg.
Adopting the hub- and-spoke model
In aviation, the hub-and-spoke scheme has long been practiced and proven its worth. It effectively links core hubs with interconnected sub-hubs. This structure centralizes decision-making and resource allocation, while also simplifying communication channels. Its success is evidenced by the many global passenger and cargo airlines that organize their routes around a hub-and-spoke model to maximize efficiency and minimize costs.
Now, Gemini has adapted the scheme and aligned its network according to this system. “We will call at two or a maximum of three ports in the Far East and act accordingly in Europe,” Hapag-Lloyd’s CEO, Rolf Habben Jansen confirmed to journalists last Tuesday evening (04FEB25). For Europe, this means that mega-ships such as Hapag-Lloyd’s Berlin Express, which can transport up to 24,000 TEU, will only call at Tangier, Rotterdam and – occasionally – Wilhelmshaven, on westbound routes. At these key harbors, smaller feeder vessels will take over the shipments and distribute them across Europe, calling ports like Le Havre, Hamburg, Copenhagen or Gdansk, for example.
Improving punctuality
In Hamburg, Hapag-Lloyd’s hometown, the maritime community is gnashing its teeth. This is because in the ranking of major European ports, the city will only play the second fiddle within Gemini’s hub-and-spoke network. However, thanks to the smaller feeder vessels, the tonnage handled remains more or less the same.
The scheme based on core and secondary routes will increase both carriers’ punctuality and hence their product quality, reasons Mr. Habben Jansen. This is a much-needed improvement because data shows that almost 50% of the vessels traveling on routes between Europe, North America or the Far East are delayed. It is of little comfort that the punctuality rates of competitors such as Yang Ming, Ocean Network Express, HMM, Cosco or Evergreen, are similarly critical.
“We intend to reach a punctuality rate of 90%,” Habben Jansen proclaimed. If successful, this would be a quantum leap, increasing the quality standards for the entire maritime industry. Achieving this is not rocket science, he holds. His calculation: A higher number of port calls exponentially increases operational delays. There is always a strike by dockers somewhere, certain ports are congested, and severe weather conditions are other obstacles delaying voyages. Hence: fewer port calls lead to greater adherence to schedules, supported by early data transmissions.
Even though Maersk provides 60% of the jointly operated fleet capacity, all Gemini management decisions are made on a 50/50 basis, Rolf Habben Jansen emphasized.
Hapag-Lloyd keeps growing its terminal business
While competitors such as CMA CGM, MSC and Maersk used the extra profits generated during the Covid pandemic to primarily build up a fleet of cargo aircraft on their way to becoming multimodal transport providers, Hapag-Lloyd has focused on acquiring ocean freight terminals. To this end, the subsidiary, Hanseatic Global Terminal, was founded in 2023, and now manages 20 strategically located terminals including ports in Europe, Latin America, the USA, and India. The company is interested in further acquisitions at strategically important harbors but is not willing to pay astronomical prices, says the manager.
