Maersk has confirmed that the Umm Qarn will be the first vessel of the AE12 service of the Gemini cooperation to transit through the Suez Canal in both directions after the structural modification announced for this line between Asia and the Mediterranean. The container ship will operate voyage 642W heading west and subsequently 648E heading east, within a rotation that includes two stops at the port of Algeciras.
The shipping company has thus finalized the pending schedule for the AE12 after announcing on September 14, along with Hapag-Lloyd, the modification of the AE5, AE11, AE12, and ME2 routes of the Gemini network. The four lines will now use the Red Sea corridor and the Suez Canal instead of circumnavigating Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. In that announcement, the companies detailed the implementation dates for AE5, AE11, and ME2, while leaving the first departure corresponding to AE12 for a later communication.
According to the update published this September 28, the Umm Qarn will initiate the westbound change with voyage 642W, whose last Asian stop before the leg to Suez will be Tanjung Pelepas on October 27. After crossing the canal, the vessel will head to Algeciras before continuing to the Adriatic ports of Koper and Rijeka.
Heading east, the same container ship will operate voyage 648E. Maersk schedules the 5th of December departure from Algeciras that will precede the transit through the Suez Canal and the continuation of the service to Singapore. In this way, the port of Algeciras is included in both directions of the new configuration of the AE12.
The complete rotation communicated by the company is configured as Ningbo – Shanghai – Tanjung Pelepas – Suez Canal – Algeciras – Koper – Rijeka – Algeciras – Suez Canal – Singapore. The scheme connects the main Asian departure points of the service with the western Mediterranean and the Adriatic before returning to Asia.
The modification of the AE12 is part of a broader reorganization of several Gemini services. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced on September 14 that AE5, AE11, AE12, and ME2 would leave the route through the Cape of Good Hope to use Suez. These lines are added to AE15 and AE19, which had already adopted the route through this corridor.
Within this reorganization, Algeciras also appears in other affected services. AE5, which connects Asia with northern Europe, includes a stop in Algeciras before its return transit through Suez to Tanjung Pelepas. Meanwhile, ME2, which links India and Europe, incorporates Algeciras after crossing Suez in the European direction, before continuing to Rotterdam, London, and Hamburg.
AE11, also dedicated to the corridor between Asia and the Mediterranean, uses a different configuration and operates through Tangier Med, Valencia, Barcelona, La Spezia, Genoa, and Vado Ligure before embarking on the return journey through Suez to Singapore. The modifications thus represent a redistribution of the stops and routes of several of the East-West services shared by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.
The use of Suez has been expanding during 2026 to different services after months of diversions around the southern tip of Africa associated with the security situation in the Red Sea. In August, the companies announced the change of AE19 to the trans-Suez route, while AE15 was already also using this corridor. Maersk had previously implemented modifications in other services, including MECL.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, however, keep the evolution of these itineraries conditional on the security situation in the region. In their communication about the changes to AE5, AE11, AE12, and ME2, both companies noted that any subsequent modification of Gemini services will depend on stability in the Red Sea and whether there is no escalation of conflicts in the area. The safety of crews, vessels, and goods continues to be the established criterion for the shipping companies to determine the routes.
With the identification of the Umm Qarn and the voyages 642W and 648E, Maersk completes the initial schedule communicated for the modification of the AE12 and sets the first operations of this line under the new configuration through Suez. The schedule positions Algeciras as a stop both on the entry leg toward the Mediterranean and on the return journey toward Asia.