Hapag-Lloyd will exit the Ipanema loop in April 2027, shifting to new services for Asia-South America trade, MSC announced.
Hapag-Lloyd will withdraw from the Ipanema loop starting in April 2027, MSC announced. This change reshapes how the Hamburg-based carrier serves trade between Asia and South America's east coast.
Once it leaves the Ipanema loop, Hapag-Lloyd will run its Asia to South America East Coast offering through two services:
- ASE, which calls at the same five ports as Maersk's ASAS service.
- AS3, a weekly service operated jointly with ZIM, which made its first sailing on September 13, 2026.
With AS3 already running, the move consolidates the carrier's presence in the trade into services it operates directly or with a partner.
The ZIM partnership on AS3 continues against a shifting regulatory backdrop. On September 29, 2026, Israel's Government Companies Authority stopped processing the application for Hapag-Lloyd's proposed takeover of ZIM. The announcement included no further details on the status of the transaction.
For shippers, freight forwarders, and importers moving cargo between Asia and South America's east coast, the April 2027 changeover is the key date to plan around. Bookings, contracts, and routing plans that rely on the Ipanema loop should be reviewed against ASE and AS3 schedules and port rotations well before the transition. This early review helps protect transit reliability and delivery commitments to end customers.
The developments reflect a carrier reworking its network on a key north-south trade while the outcome of its proposed ZIM acquisition remains uncertain.
