Maersk discontinues direct connections between Gdansk and Asia

Maersk’s decision follows the new alliance with the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, based in Hamburg. As part of the agreement known as the Gemini cooperation, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have built a joint fleet of 290 ships, with Maersk providing around 60% of the fleet. The aim of the cooperation is to shorten delivery times by eliminating numerous port stops, increase the flexibility of deliveries and reduce emissions.

However, this also means changes in the connection network and the loss of up to half of the direct connections. While Maersk currently serves 11 to 13 ports in Northern Europe from Asia, this will be reduced to 5 to 6 ports as part of the Gemini Alliance, with Gdansk being one of the ports affected.

But that does not mean that no more goods from Asia will reach Gdansk. The port will become a so-called feeder port, receiving deliveries from smaller ships that are transshipped in German ports, particularly Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven. In addition to these two ports, which handle transshipment to Gdansk, the Gemini Alliance will also call at Hamburg, Rotterdam and Felixstowe in the UK.

Reiner Horn, Maersk’s European spokesperson, says the changes will not affect cargo volumes in the port of Gdansk. He adds that under the new system, feeder traffic between German ports and Gdansk will not stop at other ports, but will flow directly to the Polish port, unlike today’s feeder services. According to Horn, this will reduce transit time by several days.

“Container traffic is running as before, just more punctual and more resilient to disruptions,” says Horn.

There is no denying that this is a blow to Gdansk, which has been steadily increasing its handling capacity for several years and rising in the ranking of Baltic ports. In 2023, the largest Polish port was the second largest port on the Baltic Sea in terms of handling, handling a total of 81 million tonnes of cargo, including just over 2 million TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) containers.

Despite Maersk’s decision, the world’s largest shipowner MSC, the third-largest French shipowner CMA CGM and the Chinese operator COSCO continue to sail directly from Asia to Gdansk.

It is worth highlighting that Maersk is the second largest ship owner in the world in terms of transport capacity, and Hapag-Lloyd is the fifth largest. According to the latest data from Alphaliner, Maersk has a fleet with a capacity of 4.34 million TEU (14.6% share of global transport capacity) and Hapag-Lloyd has 2.15 million TEU (7.2%).