Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will add a call in Jeddah to the AE15 service's rotation starting in August, expanding connectivity between Asia, Europe and Saudi Arabia as the Gemini Cooperation continues its shift back to the Suez Canal route.

The Jeddah addition follows the carriers' July 6 announcement that AE15 would transition from the Cape of Good Hope route to a trans-Suez rotation, with the Majestic Maersk as the first vessel to sail the revised route.

AE15 connects Asia, the Mediterranean and Europe, and its current rotation covers Qingdao, Kwangyang, Ningbo, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Said, Damietta, Colombo and Singapore. With the Jeddah call added in August, the service will offer direct linkage to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alongside its existing Asia-Europe port coverage.

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd said the shift to the Suez corridor marks a step toward a gradual return to trans-Suez transits following a thorough assessment of security conditions in the Red Sea, and is intended to provide customers with more efficient transit times than the longer Cape of Good Hope routing.

The two carriers, which jointly operate services under the Gemini Cooperation, said they will continue to monitor the security situation in the Middle East closely, noting that any further changes to Gemini network services will depend on continued stability in the Red Sea area.

The carriers said the safety of crew, vessels and customers' cargo remains the highest priority, and that contingency plans are in place to revert individual sailings — or the wider structural change — back to the Cape of Good Hope route should the security situation change. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd said they will inform customers when further changes to the Gemini network are made.

The move comes against the backdrop of a broader, cautious return of container lines to the Red Sea and Suez Canal after many carriers diverted vessels around the Cape of Good Hope beginning in late 2023 in response to attacks on merchant shipping by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The rerouting added significant sailing time and cost to Asia-Europe services, and carriers have said any resumption of full-scale Suez transits will remain contingent on sustained calm in the Red Sea corridor.