Hapag-Lloyd Equips Dry Container Fleet with Trackers

Hapag-Lloyd takes the first step in equipping its dry container fleet with live tracking devices. The first of these IoT devices are now being installed on dry containers at the CMR depot in Hamburg, the shipping company’s home city. In the coming weeks and months, installation will begin at additional selected container depots in Northern and Southern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

(Hamburg) Within the next year, up to 200 depots worldwide will be involved in equipping 1.6 million of these devices on dry containers. By the end of 2023, the majority of Hapag-Lloyd’s containers are expected to be equipped with these devices.

“We are very excited to start this project and to be the first in the industry to take such a far-reaching step towards the digitalization of container shipping. The containers that leave the depot with a tracking device will be fully visible to us and, in the next step, also to our customers—whether they are on a truck, train, or inland vessel, or standing in a warehouse. We are convinced that greater transparency has the potential to better manage strained supply chains for the benefit of our customers,” comments Dr. Maximilian Rothkopf, COO of Hapag-Lloyd.

Real-time Data from Every Container

The tracking devices will be capable of transmitting data from each container in real-time, making the supply chain more transparent and efficient. They can provide GPS-based location data, measure ambient temperature, and monitor sudden shocks to the container. They integrate the latest energy harvesting technology and low-power techniques to ensure an extremely long lifespan with high-frequency data transmission.

The container fleet is currently being equipped with devices from the established TradeTech partner Nexxiot, and from the end of this year, devices from ORBCOMM, a leading global provider of IoT solutions, will also be installed.

First Steps of a Large-Scale Project

“The digitalization of our entire container fleet is a complex task. We are now taking the first steps of a large-scale project. In this initial implementation phase, it is important to optimize all processes together with our IoT partners to fully leverage the potential of the technology. At the same time, we want to make the product available to our customers quickly, as they need and increasingly expect this type of digitized solutions,” says Andrea Schöning, Senior Director Container Steering. The Hapag-Lloyd LIVE product for dry containers will be available to customers throughout 2023.

Photo: © Hapag-Lloyd