Shipping giant Maersk is strengthening its Felixstowe office - in spite of a decision to move one of its key services to London Gateway.

Maersk has just moved its 150-strong workforce into new offices in town.

The Danish group had previously joined forces with MSC - which has overtaken it as the world's largest shipping operation - to operate a service from Asia to Europe.

This service - usually a weekly one - calls in at the Port of Felixstowe - under what is known as the 2M Alliance between the "big two".

The Alexandra Maersk (Image: Lucy Taylor) But as that alliance comes to an end, Maersk has teamed up with a smaller German operator -  Hapag-Lloyd - to offer a new Asia to Europe service.

This is being called the Gemini Cooperation and will operate a UK shuttle from mainland ports such as Rotterdam to London Gateway rather than Felixstowe from February next year.

The loss is a blow for the port - but there are many moving parts in play. Maersk operates four other services which call at Felixstowe.

Meanwhile MSC is launching its new Asia to and from Europe services which it will operate solo from February next year and Felixstowe will be one of the ports called at.

Of the four routes which include the UK, two - the Albatross and the Britannia - will stop at Felixstowe, one at London Gateway and one at Southampton. There will be two options - one via the Cape of Good Hope and a shorter one via Suez.

An industry insider said: "Shipping alliances form and break up from time to time. It's not insignificant but it's not yet clear how it's all going to play out.

"These things have happened before - that pattern happens periodically and that's where we are at the moment. You could call it a period of instability."

Maersk moved into new offices at Haven Exchange, Felixstowe, last week. The Unit 10 building - previously called Haven Exchange - has been renamed Maersk House.

During  Maritime UK week last month, the company chose the Port of Felixstowe to celebrate the naming of its huge new green methanol container vessel - the Alexandra Maersk.

In April, Maersk area managing director Gary Jeffreys said they were “excited to have found a new modern home for our growing team and our operations in Felixstowe".

"This is a great move for us, and our long-term future in Felixstowe and reflects our commitment to continue investing in the area, which remains a crucial hub for the UK’s trade and transportation network as well as for Maersk,” he added.

Meanwhile, MSC - which has its recently expanded UK head office at Ransomes Europark, Ipswich - has said that from February 2025 onwards it will be providing "a unique and holistic east/west solution for all customers - offering both Suez and the Cape of Good Hope routing options".

This future standalone network will replace the current 2M deal with Maersk on east/west trades, it said.

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company chief executive Soren Toft said: "With the addition of select slot swap agreements we will provide complete coverage across all east/west routes."

The new 2025 east/west network "will not impact the tonnage or deployment for any other routes provided by MSC globally", the company added.

The Maersk Felixstowe team is unaffected by the Gemini services switch to London Gateway as the employees are not port workers, but are focused on areas such as customer services and sales.

A Maersk spokesman said the company was not fully leaving the port.

“Besides Liverpool and East Midland Gateway, Felixstowe is an important maritime city on the global Maersk map with one of our main UK offices and a big dedicated team here," he said.

The four other Maersk services which remain at Maersk are its Intra-Europe service, two feeder services - and a Middle East to Europe service. 

"This is only for the services of the future Gemini network which we will operate in cooperation with Hapag-Lloyd as from February 2025, and which will replace our existing 2M alliance with MSC," he said. 

(Image: Lucy Taylor)

"There are no changes for Maersk’s own operated services to/from Felixstowe outside the scope of the Gemini Cooperation."

In April Maersk announced a significant upgrade to its ME2 ocean service calling in to the key North Europe ports of Rotterdam, Felixstowe, and Bremerhaven and this service remains in place.

It calls at Port Tangier,  Algeciras, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Bremerhaven, Port Tangier, Salalah, Jebel Ali, Mundra, Nhava Sheva and Port Tangier.

Earlier this year, Maersk said a feeder service to other UK ports and 17 weekly rail services out of Felixstowe "connects the port perfectly" to its four UK warehouses in Kettering, Doncaster, Tamworth and the newly-built 63,000 sqm warehousing facility East Midlands Gateway.

However, the company has reviewed all ports and terminals in its current networks and concluded London Gateway was the "most optimal port" to serve their customers importing and exporting to and from the UK.

"Due to this change, Felixstowe will not be a part of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s shared Gemini network."