Hapag-Lloyd uses containers fewer than four times per year.

According to Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, a loaded container is currently in transit for an average of 61 days, compared to 55 days last year. In practice, a container can now only be used 3.9 times per year, which is very low. Last year, a container could still be used for more than four trips per year.

Hapag-Lloyd now has to purchase additional containers to ensure all cargo can be transported. The round trip of the ships has not only become longer due to the Red Sea crisis but also because of port congestion. In the first half of this year, the number of ships docked at a Northern European port (and therefore not sailing) has already increased by 17%. For Rotterdam, according to the Hamburg-based carrier, this increase is as much as 40%.

Not planned

Considering the fact that the global cargo volume increased by 7.1% in the first half of the year, and that Hapag-Lloyd has already commissioned six new container ships this year (each requiring multiple sets of containers to fill), the need for additional equipment is significant.

We will ultimately expand our container fleet by half a million TEU over the course of 2024.

"In the first six months of this year, we have already ordered 350,000 TEU of containers," said Hapag-Lloyd. "This means that we will ultimately expand our container fleet by half a million TEU over the course of this year. It wasn’t planned, but we need those boxes," added Habben Jansen.

Source: Flows