Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have resumed the ME1 service via the Suez Canal, improving transit efficiency between India and Europe.
On 2 November, Maersk announced that it and Hapag-Lloyd had implemented a structural adjustment to the ME1 service under the Gemini Cooperation network, redirecting the route from the Cape of Good Hope back through the Suez Canal.
The ME1 service connects India and Europe, and following the adjustment, its port rotation reads: Mundra - Nhava Sheva - Salalah - Suez Canal - Tangier - Rotterdam - Wilhelmshaven - Hamburg - London - Algeciras - Tangier - Suez Canal - Salalah - Mundra.
Maersk affirmed that the Suez Canal represents a critical maritime corridor linking East and West, and a key driver of efficient global supply chains. Routing via the Suez Canal and Red Sea constitutes the fastest, most sustainable, and most effective means of providing customers with transportation between Asia and Europe. Reinstating ME1 through the Suez Canal, rather than continuing around the Cape of Good Hope, positions the service to deliver materially improved transit efficiency for customers. From a network design perspective, the adjusted ME1 covers India's west coast, Middle Eastern hub ports, and Europe's principal gateways - a configuration that serves to shorten voyage distances, improve vessel turnaround efficiency, and provide a more stable transit path for cargo moving in the India-to-Europe direction.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will continue to monitor the security situation in the Middle East closely. Any further changes to the Gemini Cooperation network will remain contingent on sustained stability in the Red Sea region. The safety of crew, vessels, and customer cargo remains the paramount consideration. Accordingly, the ME1 reinstatement constitutes a service-by-service, phased structural adjustment and does not signify a full restoration of Suez Canal routing across the Gemini network; whether the scope of reinstatement will be expanded further depends on ongoing security assessments and prevailing operational conditions.
Against a broader industry backdrop of continued tension across the Middle East - with both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb experiencing varying degrees of disruption - the pace of Red Sea reinstatement is accelerating faster than previously anticipated, emerging as one of the defining variables shaping competitive dynamics in the container shipping market. ME1 marks another Gemini service to resume Suez Canal routing, following earlier adjustments to AE15, AE19, AE5, AE11, AE12, and ME2. The progressive expansion of reinstatements stands to shorten Asia-Europe and India-Europe voyage distances and release capacity previously absorbed by Cape diversions, though the practical market impact will ultimately be determined by the scale of reinstatement, schedule integration, and the trajectory of the security environment.
Freight forwarders and cargo owners with shipments affected by the ME1 adjustment are advised to verify specific vessel names, voyage numbers, port calls, and schedule details on a shipment-by-shipment basis, confirming booking routing and estimated arrival times individually rather than treating the reinstatement of a single service as equivalent to a full restoration of Red Sea routing. For cargo transiting India and the Middle East to Europe, the revised ME1 port rotation should be evaluated in terms of transit time and transhipment connectivity implications. Continuous monitoring of carrier security assessments, service announcements, and insurance arrangements is recommended, with contingency time built in to accommodate potential interim adjustments.
