Combating the box shortage: Hapag-Lloyd places huge container order

150,000 TEU of new dry and reefer boxes plus 8,000 TEU of special containers / Delivery in 2021 to help alleviate current container shortage / Approx. USD 550 million investment one of largest for boxes in company history

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. The fact is that because boxes are turning slower, shipping companies need more than the normal number of containers to carry the same volume. But here’s the good news: Hapag-Lloyd has placed another big order for containers – just as it did in 2020 in its initial response to the pandemic. In fact, with a combined investment volume of roughly USD 550 million, this is one of the biggest container orders that Hapag-Lloyd has ever made.
Some of the 150,000 TEU of standard dry and state-of-the-art reefer boxes have already been delivered this year and integrated into Hapag-Lloyd’s container fleet. But the majority of these boxes will be delivered by Chinese manufacturers in the months ahead and before the end of 2021. What’s more, Hapag-Lloyd has ordered 8,000 TEU of special containers to 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,” says Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.