Maersk launches AE18 and rewrites six Gemini services

Maersk will launch a new AE18 service from Shanghai on 22 November 2026, the centrepiece of a broad Gemini network overhaul touching six services and reshaping coverage from North Europe to the East Coast of Latin America.

The Danish carrier is introducing AE18, revising rotations on AE2, AE11, AE12, AE19 and ME2, and shifting its Colombo call from AE15 to AE12. All of it follows the structural rerouting of Gemini's Asia–Mediterranean services through the Suez Canal. The result: new coverage patterns across North Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Sri Lanka and the Adriatic.

What does this change for shippers? Hub consolidation in the West Mediterranean, a direct North Europe–Saudi Arabia link, and a new Adriatic–Sri Lanka connection.

What does the new AE18 look like?

AE18 will consolidate the Tangier and Algeciras coverage previously spread across AE2, AE12 and AE11, and it adds a direct call at Xiamen. The rotation:

• Shanghai – Xiamen – Tanjung Pelepas – Algeciras – Tangier – Algeciras – Xiamen

Maersk Edirne, voyage 647W, inaugurates the service from Shanghai on 22 November 2026. The wider configuration also supports connections from Asia to West Africa and the East Coast of Latin America.

AE18 will run alongside AE19, doubling down on West Mediterranean hub coverage.

Which rotations are being revised?

Four services change inside a single week in mid-November — a tight schedule by any network's standards.

• AE2 drops its westbound Tangier call in favour of Rotterdam, adding a connection from Ningbo and Shanghai to the Dutch port. Moscow Maersk, voyage 646W, departs Ningbo on 15 November 2026.
• AE11 adds a westbound Salalah call and swaps westbound Tangier for Port Said. Estelle Maersk, voyage 647W, leaves Shanghai on 17 November.
• AE19 replaces Shanghai with Nansha and adds Damietta. Ane Maersk, voyage 647W, departs Xingang on 18 November.
• AE12 picks up the Colombo call from AE15. Alva Maersk, voyage 652E, runs the revised rotation with an estimated Colombo arrival on 12 January 2027.

The revised AE12 rotation: Ningbo – Shanghai – Tanjung Pelepas – Suez Canal – Port Said East – Koper – Rijeka – Port Said East – Suez Canal – Colombo – Singapore.

That move creates a connection between the Adriatic ports of Koper and Rijeka and Sri Lanka. Cargo moving through Colombo gains onward access to South India and Bangladesh.

What about Jeddah and the ME2?

Maersk is adding Jeddah to the eastbound leg of ME2 — a new direct connection from North Europe to Saudi Arabia. Maersk Tukang, voyage 649E, arrives in Jeddah on 20 December 2026.

The revised ME2 rotation:

• Ennore – Colombo – Suez Canal – Algeciras – Rotterdam – London Gateway – Hamburg – Tangier – Suez Canal – Jeddah – Colombo

Rotterdam, London Gateway and Hamburg all gain direct Saudi connectivity. For forwarders booking Gulf cargo from North Europe, that's one less transhipment to worry about.

Why it matters

The pattern across the changes is consistent: Tangier calls get consolidated into AE18, new Mediterranean and Red Sea gateways — Port Said, Damietta, Salalah, Jeddah — absorb redistributed flows, and feeder-heavy routings give way to direct calls. Shippers with cargo booked on the affected voyages should check whether their port pairs have shifted; several Tangier-bound flows now land at Rotterdam or Port Said instead.

For carriers, the overhaul signals Gemini's continued bet on hub-and-spoke discipline post-Suez rerouting. Expect further rotation tuning as Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd refine the network's Mediterranean coverage into 2027.

By Amara Osei