Hapag-Lloyd orders 150,000 TEUs of containers to ease shortage

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  • The 150,000 TEUs are made up of new dry and reefer boxes
  • Additional order of 8,000 TEUs of special containers
  • Delivery in 2021 to help alleviate current container shortage
  • About US$550 million investment is one of largest for boxes in company history

Hapag-Lloyd announced it has ordered 150,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) of new dry and reefer boxes as well as 8,000 TEUs of special containers, one of the biggest container orders the German carrier has ever made.

The box shipping liner in a release said its latest investment in its container fleet is valued at about US$550 million.

On top of the pandemic and delayed shipments due to port congestion, shippers and forwarders worldwide have had to cope with an added complication: a shortage of boxes to ship their goods. Since boxes are turning slower, shipping companies need more than the normal number of containers to carry the same volume.

Some of the 150,000 TEUs of standard dry and state-of-the-art reefer boxes have already been delivered this year and integrated into Hapag-Lloyd’s container fleet.

The majority of these boxes will be delivered by Chinese manufacturers in the months ahead and before the end of 2021.

The 8,000 TEUs of special containers, meanwhile, will be used for over-sized and dangerous goods.

“The container shipping industry is currently seeing unprecedented demand, which has led to a shortage of containers all over the world. With its recent container orders, Hapag-Lloyd is contributing to efforts to ease the current situation and will be able to offer its customers a much better service,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.