The Gemini Cooperation, which is the new alliance between Maersk and Hapag Lloyd planned for 2025, was put on hold last week by the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), who require more information before sanctioning it for trading within the US.

Gemini will bring together the 2nd and 5th biggest carriers in the world and offer a vessel sharing capacity of 6 million TEU’s, which will be the largest network in operation after next year’s shake up in alliances.

The Gemini agreement was due to start from this month, with operations starting from February 2025, but the FMC seem to have delayed proceedings, stating “The commission has determined that the Gemini Cooperation agreement as submitted lacks sufficient detail to allow for a complete analysis of its potential competitive impacts”.

Maersk and MSC confirmed last year that their 10-year agreement as the 2M alliance was coming to an end in 2025 and initial thoughts were that both carriers would be operating their own independent networks. However, the Danish carrier later surprised the shipping industry when announcing their new agreement with Hapag, especially when the German shipping line was an existing member of the THEA (THE Alliance).

The FMC are not ruling out it’s sanctioning of Gemini, but require more information, stating: “Re-consideration of the agreement will not commence until the commission has received a fully compliant response to its inquiry.”