Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will send their shared Gemini Cooperation Indian Ocean Service back through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, dropping the Cape of Good Hope routing. Maersk markets the service as ME1 and Hapag-Lloyd as IOS1. The first westbound sailing is Atlanta Express, voyage 644W, leaving Salalah on 4 November 20261.
The revised rotation is Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Salalah, Suez Canal, Tangier, Rotterdam, Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg, London, Algeciras, Tangier, Suez Canal, Salalah and Mundra1. Salalah stays on the rotation in both directions1.
The first eastbound sailing is Savannah Express, voyage 644E. Hapag-Lloyd lists 12 November as its departure from Tangier, while Maersk gives 13 November1. Both dates remain subject to operational conditions1.
What the shorter routing saves
The Container News report of the advisory gives the rotation and first voyage dates but no port-to-port transit times1. The closest public guide is a trade-wide figure from India's export trade. Ramu Shanmugam is chief executive of Clothing Connections and chairs the IT wing subcommittee of the Tiruppur Exporters' Association. He said Chennai to Rotterdam transit times have improved to 23 to 24 days, against 34 to 36 days via the Cape of Good Hope2. Chennai is not on the IOS rotation, which calls at Mundra and Nhava Sheva1.
Drewry puts a Suez round voyage at about 21,878 nautical miles and 97 days, against 29,711 nautical miles and 124 days via the Cape, a saving of about 7,833 nautical miles and 27 days2. Drewry estimates that using Suez saves around $1 million per round voyage for a 24,000-TEU ship, roughly $43 per slot, before additional war-risk insurance costs2.
Rates on the trade have already moved. Shanmugam also gave general India to Europe spot rates on 20 October. Tuticorin to Antwerp and Rotterdam was quoted at $2,350 to $2,450 per 40-foot container, against $6,100 to $7,000 at the July peak2. Indian exporters to Europe and the UK had seen rates fall by $400 to $600 per container over three weeks, he said, with further softening expected through November2. Bank of America said long-haul container rates appear to have peaked, and put Red Sea container traffic at 65% of normal, up from 50% in September3.
Not a network-wide return
The carriers describe the move as specific to one service. Container News reported that the announcement does not indicate the whole Gemini network is returning to Suez. It said both lines will keep monitoring security, with crew safety, vessel security and cargo protection as priorities1.
The IOS is not the first India-linked Gemini string to use the canal. ME11 connects India and the Middle East with the Mediterranean. It moved to the Red Sea and Suez Canal from mid-February 2026, with the carriers saying at the time that transits would be secured by naval assistance4. Maersk's ME2 rotation already lists Suez Canal in both directions and adds a Jeddah call from 20 December 20265. In September, four Gemini services returned to the Red Sea route6.
Maersk's stated aim is to complete its return to the Suez Canal by March 2027. A Container News reader poll published on 2 November found expectations split between a full return by then and a partial restoration7.