The port of Tangier Med will be served by a new container line connecting China to the Western Mediterranean from November 2026.
Announced by shipowners Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, this service should strengthen connections between Chinese markets and Morocco, while offering connection opportunities to West Africa.
Named « Asia South Europe 5 » (SE5) by Hapag-Lloyd and « AE18 » by Maersk, the new service will connect the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Xiamen to Tanger Med. Its rotation will also pass through Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, and Algeciras, Spain. The connection will take the Suez Canal to connect Asia to the Mediterranean.
A first departure scheduled for November 22
The first departure is scheduled for November 22, 2026 from Shanghai, with the container ship Maersk Edirne, for the 647W trip. This date corresponds to the beginning of the ship’s Asian rotation, not its arrival in Tanger Med.
The two companies have not yet communicated a precise date for their first stopover at the Moroccan port.
This new line aims to facilitate trade between central and southern China and the markets of the western Mediterranean, including Spain and Morocco. It must also allow connections to West Africa via Tanger Med, thus expanding the possibilities of transporting goods from Asia.
Two existing lines reworked to the detriment of Tanger Med
The opening of the SE5/AE18 service is accompanied by changes on several other links of the Gemini network, the maritime cooperation between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk. From November, the two shipowners will adjust the rotations of several services connecting the Far East to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
On the Hapag-Lloyd SE2 service, the Tanger Med stopover in the Asia-Europe direction will be replaced by Port-Saïd, Egypt. This change should strengthen the service of the eastern Mediterranean markets, while the stopovers of Valencia, Barcelona, La Spezia and Genoa will be maintained.
On the NE1 line, oriented towards Northern Europe, Tanger Med will also be removed from rotation. Rotterdam will become the first European port served after the departure from Asia, before Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven. On the Maersk side, the equivalent changes concern in particular the AE11 and AE2 services.
However, Tanger Med does not disappear from the network of the two companies. The port remains served by the SE4 service, whose rotation will also be modified, including the addition of Nansha, in southern China, and Damiette, in Egypt.
The new SE5/AE18 service therefore completes the presence of the Moroccan port in the network, while some stopovers are reassigned to other platforms.
