News / Container carriers develop new routes to serve Gulf shippers

Photo: VesselFinder

With the conflict in the Middle East nearing the end of its first week and the Strait of Hormuz closure still in place, carriers are switching focus to how to maintain freight supply chains to local Middle East markets.

The Gemini Cooperation carriers – Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd – today announced the launch of an Asia-Mediterranean service that will also include a call at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Jeddah, accessed via the Suez Canal.

The announcement of the new AE19 (Maersk)/SE6 (Hapag-Lloyd) service coincides with the carriers’ decision to suspend the FM1/AGX Far East-Middle East and ME1/IMX India-Mediterranean loops, and appears intended to try and plug the gap left by those suspensions.

The AE19/SE6 will feature a port rotation of: Tianjin-Qingdao-Busan-Ningbo-Shanghai-Tanjung Pelepas-West Med Hub (Tanger/Algeciras)-East Med Hub (Port Said/Damietta)-Jeddah-East Med Hub-West Med Hub-Singapore-Tianjin.

The first sailing will be the departure of the 13,500 teu Maersk Elba from Tianjin on 13 March, the vessel is currently deployed on the FM1/AGX.

“We will complement the AE19 with expanded and upgraded shuttle solutions connecting Asia into a wide range of ports in Europe and to Jeddah. This will enable more flexibility and routing options for your supply chain,” a Maersk customer advisory said.

At this week’s S&P Global TPM event in Long Beach, container shipping industry analyst Lars Jensen noted that Jeddah was likely to become a key port to route Middle East cargo through while the conflict continues.

Meanwhile, MSC has unveiled a new trucking solution for importers in Iraq, going via the Turkish ports of Mersin and Iskenderun, which are served by its Far East-Mediterranean Tiger and Phoenix services respectively.

“In light of the current security situation in the Middle East, we are informing customers of our solutions for inland cargo to Iraq.

“Our Tiger and Phoenix services offer competitive transit times from Asia to Turkey cargo. This is further enhanced by our support for merchant and inspired haulage, enabling shipment inland to Iraq via Iskenderun on our Phoenix service, and via Mersin on our Tiger service,” it told customers.

It added that Iraqi inland destinations “include the cities of Zakho, Dohuk, Mosul, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Baghdad”.