Hapag-Lloyd operations in 2026
Hapag-Lloyd is the world's fifth-largest container carrier by TEU capacity, headquartered in Hamburg and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The 2025 fleet comprises 301 vessels with 2.5 million TEU of vessel capacity, 3.7 million TEU of container capacity, 133 liner services calling at more than 600 ports across 139 countries. The company employs approximately 18,100 people in 400 offices worldwide. The 2025 annual report showed revenues of USD 21.1 billion and EBIT of USD 1.1 billion.
The ownership structure directly shapes Hapag-Lloyd's operational footprint. CSAV (Chile) and Kühne Maritime each hold 30.0%, followed by HGV Hamburg (City of Hamburg) at 13.9%, the Qatar Investment Authority at 12.3%, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia at 10.2%, with only 3.6% in free float. The CSAV stake is the legacy of the 2014 merger with CSAV's container business, which brought Latin American trade lane density. The QIA and PIF stakes trace back to the 2017 United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) merger, which brought Middle East and Indian subcontinent density. For ops desks, this means Hapag-Lloyd's strongest non-European operational presence is on CSAV-heritage LatAm trades and UASC-heritage Gulf/India trades.
The defining structural change for Hapag-Lloyd in 2025–2026 is the transition from THE Alliance (with ONE, HMM, Yang Ming) to the Gemini Cooperation with Maersk, effective 1 February 2025. THE Alliance formally ended for Hapag-Lloyd at the close of January 2025; the remaining three carriers rebranded as Premier Alliance. Gemini operates a hub-and-spoke design with Maersk providing approximately 60% of the fleet and Hapag-Lloyd providing 40%. Hub ports include Tangier, Salalah, Algeciras, SCCT at Port Said, and — from February 2026 — Damietta. Schedule reliability averaged approximately ~90% across the first year of operations (Sea-Intelligence GLP data), with Asia–North Europe and Transatlantic lanes exceeding 95%.
Hapag-Lloyd's terminal assets are managed through Hanseatic Global Terminals (HGT), a fully-owned subsidiary based in Rotterdam. As of the 2025 annual report, HGT operates 21 port terminals across 11 countries on five continents, with expansion toward a target of 30+ by 2030. Two HGT holdings sit inside Gemini hub complexes: Damietta Alliance Container Terminals (DACT) in Egypt, which launched commercial operations in February 2026 and feeds into Gemini's SE3 service from April 2026; and the Tanger Alliance terminal (TC3) at the Tanger Med complex in Morocco, where HGT participates in a joint venture alongside Marsa Maroc, Contship Italia, and Eurogate. Beyond the Gemini hubs, HGT's portfolio includes J M Baxi (India, 40% stake), SAAM Terminals (Latin America), CNMP LH Le Havre (60%, March 2025), Florida International Terminal (100% from January 2026), CTA Hamburg (25.1% stake within HHLA), and JadeWeserPort.
Note: MSC, not Hapag-Lloyd, is the 49.9% owner of HHLA. Hapag-Lloyd's HHLA connection is limited to the CTA Hamburg joint venture stake.
On 16 February 2026, Hapag-Lloyd announced the pending acquisition of ZIM at USD 35 per share (USD 4.2 billion total equity value). The transaction is expected to close by late 2026, subject to ZIM shareholder approval, regulatory clearances, and State of Israel approval. Until closing, Hapag-Lloyd and ZIM operate as separate independent companies. All operational content on this page reflects Hapag-Lloyd's standalone profile.
Hapag-Lloyd operates under a single primary SCAC: HLCU. After the 2017 UASC merger, UASC's SCAC (UASU) went inactive for new bookings, but UACU-prefixed containers from the UASC-era fleet continue to circulate within the Hapag-Lloyd pool. For SI submission and BL generation, HLCU is the operative carrier identifier regardless of the container prefix.
Hapag-Lloyd's published fee schedules are fragmented across country-level PDFs. Amendment fees, cancellation fees, telex release fees, and manifest fees vary by geography. Pages on this site use validated fee examples from Germany, USA, Italy, and Spain where specific figures are confirmed from source documents. The pending ZIM acquisition (expected close late 2026) does not affect current Hapag-Lloyd operational workflows; all content reflects Hapag-Lloyd's standalone profile.
What experienced ops teams watch for on Hapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd's Online Business Suite is the primary customer portal, covering booking (Quick Quotes and Quick Quotes Spot), SI submission (New SI web form for ICS2-ready submissions, plus legacy eaSI PDF), BL Draft Approval (BLDA tool), VGM submission, Navigator 2.0 shipment tracking, and document management. The DCSA v2.2 Track & Trace API runs live at api-portal.hlag.com, with a Commercial Schedules API added in June 2025. On digital tooling depth, Hapag-Lloyd sits alongside Maersk and CMA CGM at the top tier — materially ahead of MSC's myMSC portal.
Where Hapag-Lloyd's documentation thins out relative to Maersk: no published draft BL turnaround SLA (Maersk publishes a 2-hour Verify Copy target), no published DG approval SLA (Maersk publishes a 4-working-hour Case Management SLA), and fee documentation scattered across per-country PDFs rather than a centralized schedule.
Gemini's schedule reliability stood at 85.0% in March/April 2026 (Sea-Intelligence GLP #177, ALL arrivals): materially above Ocean Alliance's 67.6%, MSC standalone's 73.4%, and Premier Alliance's 54.2% in the same window. The 85.0% figure is a Gemini Cooperation figure, not a Hapag-Lloyd standalone metric; both Hapag-Lloyd-operated and Maersk-operated mainliners contribute to the same reliability pool. For ETA planning, Hapag-Lloyd shipments on Gemini services carry a narrower delay window than pre-Gemini performance under THE Alliance.
Hapag-Lloyd enforces country-specific fee structures that reward digital channel usage. In Germany, a late SI amendment (post documentation closing) costs EUR 100 per document from April 2025. In Spain, a Manual Booking Amendment Fee runs EUR 80 per booking for amendments placed by email or phone. In the USA, BL amendments cost USD 70 per amendment between documentation cut-off and sailing, rising to USD 130 per amendment from the day after vessel departure. These fee differentials create a direct channel-routing incentive.
What Expedion handles for Hapag-Lloyd
Five operational workflows are fully supported on Hapag-Lloyd shipments today. Each one is documented in detail on its own page.
Booking
Quick Quotes (longer validity) and Quick Quotes Spot (loading guarantee, equipment guarantee, 2-day ETD window) for ad-hoc shipments; contract rate bookings through OBS. Gemini reliability (~90%) as the ETA baseline. Agents evaluate Quick Quotes vs Quick Quotes Spot vs contract and route through digital channels to avoid the Manual Booking Amendment Fee (EUR 80/booking in Spain).
Shipping Instructions
SI submission through Online Business Suite New SI web form (ICS2-ready), eaSI PDF (legacy, not for EU-bound), EDI, or API. Agents default to New SI for EU-bound cargo to avoid 'No MRN / No Load' enforcement. Preview Before Submit validation before final submission.
Bill of Lading
Draft BL review via BLDA tool in OBS. Amendment fee tracking against per-country thresholds (USA: USD 70 pre-sailing, USD 130 post-departure; Germany: EUR 100 post-closing). Telex release coordination. eBL via WAVE BL and iQAX (India legal recognition since July 2025).
Documentation
VGM submission via OBS VGM form, EDI VERMAS, or API. DG declarations through MDGF with no published approval SLA. ICS2 advance manifest filing (No MRN / No Load since September 2024). Manifest Submission Fee tracking (USD 35/House BL from April 2025).
Tracking & Visibility
DCSA T&T v2.2 API at api-portal.hlag.com. Commercial Schedules API (June 2025). Gemini hub-and-spoke milestone consolidation (shuttle-mainliner-shuttle pattern). ETA calibration against ~90% Gemini reliability baseline. Navigator 2.0 web UI.
TMS compatibility
Expedion agents operate Hapag-Lloyd workflows on top of your existing TMS. We connect via API where available and authenticated browser sessions where not. Your system of record stays intact.
| TMS | Integration | SI | BL | Booking | Tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CargoWise | DCSA T&T via carrier visibility layer + eAdaptor | Full | Full | Full | Full |
| GoFreight | Direct REST API subscription | Full | Full | Full | Full |
| Magaya | DCSA T&T via Magaya Connect + API | Full | Full | Full | Full |
| Logi-Sys | API + browser automation | Full | Full | Partial | Full |
| No TMS | Email + spreadsheet | Full | Full | Full | Full |
Frequently asked questions
Does Hapag-Lloyd have a spot rate product equivalent to Maersk Spot?
Hapag-Lloyd's Quick Quotes Spot is the closest equivalent but not identical. Quick Quotes Spot includes a loading guarantee (at origin port and transshipment port) and an equipment guarantee, with a two-day loading window around the confirmed ETD. What it does not include is Maersk Spot's explicit two-way published compensation mechanism for rolled cargo. Hapag-Lloyd's fallback when the loading guarantee cannot hold is loading priority on the next available sailing, without a published compensation figure. From 1 April 2025, Quick Quotes Spot-specific cancellation, no-show, and amendment fees were retired in favour of local booking rules. Expedion agents can process both Quick Quotes and Quick Quotes Spot bookings.
How does Expedion handle the same Gemini network for Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk differently?
The Gemini Cooperation is a shared network, so service counts, reliability (~90% average, 95%+ on top lanes), and the April 2026 service changes apply to both carriers. The operational differences are carrier-specific: Expedion agents submit Hapag-Lloyd SIs through the Online Business Suite (not Maersk.com), pull tracking from Hapag-Lloyd's DCSA T&T API at api-portal.hlag.com (not Maersk's Track & Trace Plus), apply Hapag-Lloyd's country-specific BL amendment fees, and surface Hapag-Lloyd's Hanseatic Global Terminals touchpoints (DACT Damietta, HGT's TC3 stake within the Tanger Med complex) alongside Maersk's APM Terminals hubs.
What changed for forwarders when Hapag-Lloyd left THE Alliance for Gemini?
THE Alliance dissolved for Hapag-Lloyd at the end of January 2025; the remaining three carriers (ONE, HMM, Yang Ming) rebranded as Premier Alliance. Hapag-Lloyd's East-West schedule moved from THE Alliance's service model to Gemini's hub-and-spoke design (Tangier, Salalah, Algeciras, SCCT, Damietta from 2026) with Hapag-Lloyd providing 40% of the fleet and Maersk providing 60%. Bookings spanning the transition required schedule recoding. Reliability baselines moved up materially from THE Alliance's pre-transition performance to Gemini's ~90% average.
How does Expedion handle legacy UACU-prefixed containers from the UASC merger?
UASC merged into Hapag-Lloyd in 2017 and UASC's SCAC (UASU) is no longer active for new bookings. UACU-prefixed containers from the UASC-era fleet continue to circulate within the Hapag-Lloyd pool but route under HLCU for BL, SI, and customs filing purposes. Expedion agents map UACU to HLCU automatically so that forwarders' TMS reconciliation, BL generation, and invoice-matching work without special-case UASC-legacy handling.
How does Expedion handle eBL on Hapag-Lloyd shipments?
Hapag-Lloyd's eBL is available through two IG P&I Club-certified platforms: WAVE BL (blockchain-based) and iQAX. Both are DCSA-compliant and interoperable with Hapag-Lloyd's BL issuance. Since July 2025, Indian law (Bills of Lading Act 2025) gives eBL legal equivalence with paper originals for customs, banking, and insurance, removing the main adoption barrier on the India trade. Expedion agents default to eBL where the consignee's bank and the destination country accept it, eliminating the telex release fee (USD 100 in the US, EUR 40 in Germany/Spain, EUR 75 in Italy) and the courier cycle for paper originals.
How will the pending ZIM acquisition affect Hapag-Lloyd operations for forwarders?
The acquisition was announced on 16 February 2026 at USD 35 per share (USD 4.2 billion total equity value) and is expected to close by late 2026 subject to ZIM shareholder approval, regulatory clearances, and State of Israel approval. Until closing, Hapag-Lloyd and ZIM operate as separate companies with no operational integration of booking, SI, BL, or tracking systems. Post-close, the combined company will exceed 400 vessels and 3 million TEU, and a carve-out entity (approximately 16 vessels, Israeli domestic routes) will receive Gemini Network access. Expedion agents will not route Hapag-Lloyd documentation through ZIM systems or vice versa until the acquisition closes and operational integration begins.