Maersk North America Market Update — February 2026 in International Shipping News 13/02/2026 Summary: February brings peak-season planning pressures and winter-driven variability across North America. Get the latest updates to keep your cargo moving and decisions on track. Message from Ditlev Blicher, Regional President, North America As I jump into my new role on our North America team, I can assure you our focus remains on helping you compete and grow in an increasingly complex supply chain environment. After a volatile 2025, our priority for 2026 is clear: enabling greater resilience and performance through reliable, integrated logistics solutions. From improving end-to-end visibility and flexibility to strengthening execution and ease of doing business, we are focused on delivering tangible value for your supply chain. To end visibility and flexibility to strengthen execution and ease of doing business, we are focused on delivering tangible value for your supply chain. We appreciate the opportunity to support your business and look forward to continuing to drive results together in the year ahead. Ocean Update Structural Change to the Gemini Cooperation’s ME11 Service in the Red Sea Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have decided to change the routing of one of their shared services under the Gemini Cooperation, transitioning it through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. The service in scope is the ME11 service, which connects India and the Middle East with the Mediterranean. From mid-February, changes will be implemented on westbound sailings as of vessel Albert Maersk and on eastbound sailings as of vessel Astrid Maersk. When possible, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk will also implement changes to the AE12 and AE15 services to go through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal at a later stage. In this respect, further information to customers and other relevant stakeholders will follow in due course. No further changes to the Gemini network related to the Red Sea are foreseen at this stage. The implementation will be carried out in a way that keeps disruption for customers to a minimum. The highest possible security precautions will be undertaken, as the safety of the crew, the vessels, and our customers’ cargo remains the highest priority of both carriers. We will continue to update our Red Sea web page as the situation evolves. Europe to North America: Use your tender season decisions to lock in the U.S. gateways and inland rail points you need for 2026. You can route volume into Charleston, Savannah, and Norfolk and connect inland by rail to locations such as Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta (Fairburn), and Greer through our TA2 service in the East-West (Gemini) network. If Philadelphia supports your Northeast or Mid-Atlantic distribution plan, include it as an option on TA3 now that it is part of that rotation. Newark remains a key destination on this trade, so confirm your preferred gateway early and align your inland delivery requirements and cutoffs with your booking plan. If you ship from origins such as Vado Ligure, Port Tangier, or Greece, review TA12 and TA10 options and match them to your destination and inland needs so you can secure space and set reliable lead times. Indian Subcontinent, Middle East to North America:Our MECL service has changed its routing to sail via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. This change reduces transit time by about seven days compared with the previous routing and is intended to support more consistent schedules. If yo