Hapag-Lloyd spends US $550M on one of the biggest container order to date

Hapag-Lloyd has ordered 150,000 TEU of new containers. The order that costs a staggering $550 M in the US is one of the most significant container orders to date. The order includes dry and Reefer containers. Some of the containers were already delivered in the first quarter of 2021 and most of them are expected in the upcoming months.

In addition to the Reefer and fry containers, Hapag-Lloyd has ordered 8,000 TEU of special containers to be used for oversized or 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,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.
Steel floors
A number of the containers will most likely have steel floors, something Hapag-Lloyd has pioneered since 2013. In 2020 Hapag-Lloyd added 12,000 TEU of containers with steel floors; they now account for 40% of its fleet of Open Top containers. The carrier also believes that steel floor containers are the future of containers. “Much larger point loads can be loaded into steel floor containers per running meter, which makes them particularly attractive for heavy goods like machines,” said David Piel, Senior Manager for Special Cargo at Hapag-Lloyd.
Yet critics of steel floors have said that securing and lashing is slower and more complicated with steel flooring. Piel counterargues that Hapag-Lloyd’s steel floor containers have “a lot more lashing points,” and securing cargo “is just as easy, if not easier, and faster with a steel floor container than with a wooden floor container.”
Other advantages of steel floors include easier cleaning and the ability to use the container for different types of cargo without residue or odour from previous cargo being a concern.