SHIPPING line Hapag-Lloyd has announced the order of 60,000 TEU new standard containers that are scheduled to be delivered as early as July.
The sharp increase in demand has led to a shortage of containers across the world. Severe imbalances – such as with exports from Asia, but also owing to congestion in ports and delays in hinterland transports – are causing containers to be tied up in transit for considerably longer periods of time.
“More boxes are currently needed overall to manage the same transport volume,” said Hapag-Lloyd.
The majority of the new boxes will be delivered in the third quarter of this year.
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd said, “Demand continues to be very high, and the supply of container equipment is currently one of our industry’s biggest challenges and demands our full attention.
“To counteract the container shortage – but, most importantly, to offer our customers a better service – we have repeatedly invested in our container fleet since the beginning of the pandemic.”
In April of this year, Hapag-Lloyd had already announced orders for a total of around 150,000 TEU of standard and reefer containers to be delivered over the course of 2021. The company had also invested in its container fleet at the beginning of the pandemic.
