Saudi shippers gain direct Asia-Europe access through new Jeddah service

AE15 service connects Jeddah directly with major Asian and Mediterranean trade hubs

Last updated: September 14, 2026 | 10:51

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

Saudi shippers gain direct Asia-Europe access through new Jeddah service

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Dubai: Saudi importers and exporters now have a direct connection to major trade hubs across Asia and the Mediterranean after the Morten Maersk made its maiden call at DP World’s South Container Terminal in Jeddah.

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The vessel operates on Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s AE15 Gemini Cooperation service, which connects key Asian markets with the Mediterranean and Europe.

Jeddah was added to the service rotation earlier this year, giving Saudi shippers direct access to Qingdao and Ningbo in China, Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, and Port Said and Damietta in the Mediterranean.

The Morten Maersk is approximately 399 metres long and has capacity for more than 19,000 TEUs, placing it among the world’s largest container vessels.

Jeddah gives our customers direct access to the world’s most important trade routes, supported by the infrastructure and capability to handle the largest container vessels serving global trade. Our focus at South Container Terminal is on delivering reliable, efficient operations and providing customers with the connectivity they need. As services such as AE15 expand connectivity through Jeddah, customers benefit from greater choice and more direct access to the markets that matter to their business.

Mohammad Alshaikh, CEO of DP World Saudi Arabia

The AE15 service now operates through the Suez Canal following a structural change announced by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in July 2026.

The companies said the change was intended to improve transit times for customers moving cargo between Asia and Europe, with Jeddah subsequently added to the service rotation.

South Container Terminal investment continues

DP World is also investing in the development of South Container Terminal to increase operational efficiency and expand its long-term capacity to handle growing cargo volumes.

The programme includes new equipment, greater automation and the progressive decarbonisation of terminal operations.

The investments are aimed at improving cargo-handling reliability and efficiency while giving shipping lines and cargo owners the infrastructure needed to support changing trade flows through Jeddah.

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Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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