Gemini Cooperation, a benchmark collaboration between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, officially started operations at the port of Shanghai on Monday, further consolidating Shanghai Port's status as an international shipping hub amid the ongoing restructuring of the global shipping industry.

The collaboration between Shanghai Port and Gemini Cooperation will enhance the former's international route network, ensure punctuality and provide global customers with better-than-expected logistics support, according to the port operator Shanghai International Port (Group) Co Ltd.

"With the vision of building a world-class port operator, Shanghai International Port (Group) plays a part in helping build Shanghai into an international shipping center. We will constantly improve the capability and service of the port of Shanghai and contribute to the global shipping industry with high quality Chinese solutions," said Zhou Yong, deputy general manager of the production business department with SIPG.

According to Zhou, the collaboration will facilitate SIPG's development in digitalization, intelligentization and green transformation, enhance Shanghai Port's capabilities in international transit and empty container transfer, as well as expand its key business scopes.

The essence of the collaboration between Shanghai Port and Gemini Cooperation is the shift from scale competition to efficiency competition, said SIPG, citing an expert from the Shanghai International Shipping Institute.

Through data sharing and standard co-construction by the cooperation between port and shipping companies, the global shipping industry's competition is elevated from scale to efficiency, said the expert.

Being the world's busiest container port, the port of Shanghai handled 51.51 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) throughout 2024, holding the top position for 15 consecutive years by container throughput globally.

Gemini Cooperation took the third phase of Shanghai Port's Yangshan Deep-Water Port as its major terminal for calling in China.

Gemini Cooperation announced last year that it would start operations in February 2025, according to the official website of Hapag-Lloyd.

With the goal of delivering a fast, flexible and interconnected ocean network with industry-leading reliability being its cornerstone, Gemini Cooperation will cover seven trades and offer 57 services including mainliner and dedicated shuttle services, complemented by feeder services.

The fleet of the new partnership will consist of around 340 vessels, many ready to adopt cleaner fuels, with a total standing capacity of about 3.7 million TEUs, according to Hapag-Lloyd.

In addition to its top position as the world's busiest container port, Shanghai Port became the world's first port to cross the 50 million TEUs mark in 2024, and more than 5 million TEUs were handled in January at Shanghai Port, a new monthly high in container throughput worldwide.

In the past few years, the port of Shanghai set new monthly records in July 2024, January 2022 and August 2021, as the conventional peak season for container shipping takes place in the months between July and October, as well as December and January.

The new monthly record is also a reflection of China's active foreign trade and the resilience of China's economy, which lays a solid foundation for the steady growth of the port throughout the year.