The Ocean Alliance has removed Mersin from the rotation of its BEX2 service connecting the Mediterranean with the Far East, reversing a decision taken earlier this year to add the Turkish port to the loop.

The move directly affects shippers moving cargo between Turkey's Mediterranean coast and Asia, who must now shift their volumes to alternative gateways or transshipment routings. For the alliance — CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines/OOCL and Evergreen — the cut signals a rebalancing of port coverage on a trade lane where Mediterranean capacity allocation has been under continuous adjustment this year.

CMA CGM operates the BEX2 service, placing the French carrier at the centre of the scheduling change.

What does the revised BEX2 rotation look like?

After the adjustment, the loop sails the following port sequence:

• Alexandria
• Beirut
• Tripoli
• Rijeka
• Koper
• Trieste
• Alexandria
• Jeddah
• Port Klang
• Ningbo
• Busan
• Shanghai
• Shekou
• Singapore
• Alexandria

The rotation continues to tie together the eastern Mediterranean, the Adriatic and the Red Sea with the main Far East loading hubs of Ningbo, Busan, Shanghai and Shekou, with Singapore and Port Klang handling relay positions on the leg back toward Egypt.

Why does the reversal matter?

The Ocean Alliance had added Mersin to the BEX2 rotation earlier this year. Removing the call only months later underlines how quickly alliance network planners are reworking Mediterranean coverage in response to shifting demand patterns and port-level performance.

For forwarders, the immediate task is rebooking Turkish cargo. Options include routing via other Mediterranean gateways already served by alliance loops — Alexandria opens and closes the rotation — or feeding Turkish boxes into hub ports such as Port Klang or Singapore for onward carriage.

For carriers, the change tightens the schedule. Cutting one port call from a loop typically removes several days of transit and the associated port costs, which matters on a service string that already strings together fifteen port calls across three seas.

For Mersin itself, the loss of a direct Far East alliance call is a setback. The port keeps its feeder and regional connections, but Turkish exporters and importers lose the direct sailings to Ningbo, Busan, Shanghai and Shekou that the BEX2 call had provided.

The u-turn also highlights the fluid state of Mediterranean network planning this year. The same service that gained Mersin in an earlier reshuffle has now shed it, and shippers on the Med–Far East lane should expect further tuning of port coverage as the alliance matches capacity to demand.