Hapag-Lloyd equipping containers with trackers

Hapag-Lloyd has begun equipping its entire dry container fleet with real-time tracking devices.

The first of these IoT devices are now being installed on dry containers at a depot in Wilhelmsburg, a district of the shipping company’s hometown of Hamburg. In the following weeks and months, installations will begin in other selected container depots in North and South Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Within the next year, up to 200 depots worldwide will take part in the installation of 1.6 million of these devices on standard containers. Plans call for the vast majority of Hapag-Lloyd’s dry containers to be outfitted with these devices by the end of 2023.

The company claims it is the first in the world to equip its entire container fleet with trackers.

“The containers leaving our depots with a tracking device will now be fully visible to us and, in a next step, to our customers as well – whether they are in a warehouse or moving on a truck, train or barge. We believe that the increased transparency has the potential to improve the management of strained supply chains for the benefit of our customers,” said Maximilian Rothkopf, COO of Hapag-Lloyd.

Containers are being equipped with devices from Nexxiot. Devices from ORBCOMM will also be installed starting later this year. The devices have ultra-long service lives with high-frequency data transmission. To ensure safety for crews, cargo, and vessels the devices are designed and certified to the ATEX Zone 2 explosion proof standard.

The devices will be able to transmit data in real time from each container, when cellular service is available. They can supply location data based on GPS, measure ambient temperature within the container, and monitor any sudden shocks to it.

Hapag-Lloyd said that additional sensors inside the container or door sensors will be able to be connected with the device through Bluetooth to improve the information available.

The Hapag-Lloyd LIVE product for dry containers will become available for customers over the course of 2023