Hapag-Lloyd has officially opened up the first cargo acceptance between the United Arab Emirates and Israel and vice versa, following the recent signing of the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement.

Hapag-Lloyd has now made it known that the UAE-Israel-UAE service connection has been officially opened through the use of the GEM service, which is joint service operated by Hapag-Lloyd with CMA CGM (MEGEM service) and COSCO (GEM service).

The connection on the westbound UAE-Israel leg has been opened between Jebel Ali and Ashdod by using Piraeus for transhipment (22 days), and the Jebel Ali-Haifa leg by using Damietta for transhipment (34 days). On the eastbound Israel-UAE leg, Istanbul is to be used as a transhipment port for the Ashdod-Jebel Ali route, with a 29-day transit between the two ports.

Further connections by Hapag-Lloyd on the UAE-Israel route are also to be offered, details of which will follow. The service port rotation is Jebel Ali, Doha, Dammam, Jubail, Jebel Ali, Jeddah, (Suez), Port Said (West), Mersin, Piraeus, Izmit, Ambarli, Izmir, Iskenderun, Damietta, (Suez), Jeddah and Jebel Ali. Weekly deployment is 6,620 TEUs.