The Gemini cooperation, comprising shipping companies Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, announced this Monday, November 2, a structural change to its ME1 maritime service, which connects India with Europe and will once again use the Suez Canal and the Red Sea instead of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. The reorganization keeps the Port of Algeciras in the rotation of this regular container shipping line.
The decision marks the service’s return to the maritime corridor connecting the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, after operating on the alternative route around the African continent. According to both companies, the change will reduce transit times for goods transported between ports in India and Europe.
The new ME1 rotation will begin in Mundra and continue through Nhava Sheva, Salalah, the Suez Canal, Tangier, Rotterdam, Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg, London, Algeciras, and Tangier again. From this last port, the vessels will make the return journey via the Suez Canal, Salalah, and Mundra, completing the itinerary planned by the two shipping companies.
According to the announced schedule, implementation of the new route will begin on November 4 with the container ship Atlanta Express, voyage 644W, which is scheduled to depart from Salalah on that date. In the opposite direction, the first scheduled sailing will be the Savannah Express, voyage 644E, departing Tangier on November 13.
