Hapag-Lloyd Buys 6,000 Reefers

Hapag-Lloyd is investing a double-digit million amount in 6,000 of the latest generation of reefer containers. The order is the largest in the company’s history.

Hapag-Lloyd is already one of the largest reefer carriers in the world today and expects benefit from increasing transport volumes not just on East-West trades, but also on North-South and Latin American trades.

“We operate a state-of-the-art reefer fleet that is the fourth-largest in the world. With the new reefers, we are expanding our leading position even further in this specialized business with its specific demands and will thus benefit from the growing reefer market,” says Rolf Habben Jansen, Chief Executive Officer of Hapag-Lloyd. 

“With our enhanced reefer fleet, we are ideally positioned for the Latin American trade, which is an important part of the reefer business – right on time for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal next year.”

In April this year, Hapag-Lloyd ordered five new 10,500 TEU ships with a high number of slots for reefers. Each of these ships can accommodate up to 2,100 reefers. The newbuildings are to be used primarily on trades to and from South America, as this region is one of the strongest reefer markets in the world. 

The new reefers are to be gradually integrated into the container fleet, starting in the coming weeks.

Hapag-Lloyd uses reefers to transport temperature-sensitive cargo such as fruits, vegetables and pharmaceutical products as well as meat and fish. Around 1,000 of the newly ordered containers will be fitted with controlled-atmosphere technology, which prolongs the life of certain fruits and vegetables, while maintaining the same quality. The state-of-the-art containers will also have cooling units with the highest level of efficiency. Thanks to optimized power control, they will consume significantly less energy, without any change to performance and temperature precision.