Visibility Technology & Real Time Tracking could be a Game Changer: Hapag starts installation of sensors in dry container fleet

Visibility Technology & Real Time Tracking could be a Game Changer: Hapag starts installation of sensors in dry container fleet

Hapag-Lloyd will equip its fleet of 3 million dry containers with sensor devices by 2023 in order to track its box inventory and provide better shipment visibility to customers. After successfully introducing real-time monitoring for its reefer container fleet in 2019 with the IoT product Hapag-Lloyd LIVE, the company will start to install newly developed devices to all standard containers of its three million TEU fleet. Hapag-Lloyd continues to further digitalize container shipping and Hapag-Lloyd LIVE will become available for customers of its standard containers during 2023.

About the Smart IoT tracking device

The devices will be able to transmit data on a real-time basis from each container and by this make the supply chain more transparent and efficient. They can supply location data based on GPS, measure temperature and monitor any sudden shocks to the container. In future, additional sensors could be added through Bluetooth. To ensure safety for crews, cargo, and vessels the devices are designed and certified to the ATEX Zone 2 explosion proof standard. The company will continue to work together with key customers to develop and expand the product and its features based on their feedback.

The shipping container monitoring device integrates the latest energy harvesting technology and low-power consumption techniques to ensure ultra-long lifetimes with high-frequency data sending. The container fleet will be equipped with devices both from established TradeTech partner Nexxiot AG starting this summer as well as with devices from ORBCOMM, a global leader in Internet-of-Things solutions, starting later this year. The installation of tracking devices follows a move by the carrier in 2019 to equip its reefer container fleet with devices from a third provider, Globe Tracker, part of its Hapag-Lloyd LIVE platform.

The move by Hapag-Lloyd to make each container in its fleet trackable via a device lays down a marker in an industry that has been hesitant to bear the cost to install physical sensors on dry containers. Shipping lines have largely feared they would struggle to recoup that investment by passing on incremental costs to shippers.

New dynamics and the Need for Visibility

The dynamics have changed. The need for visibility from shippers is higher due to longer and more volatile transit times during global supply chain disruptions, the cost of devices has come down, and freight rates have risen, making each shipment inherently more valuable.

Neither Hapag-Lloyd nor the sensor providers immediately responded to requests for clarification on the container line’s capital outlay for equipping its box fleet with hardware.

“Going forward, we will be able to provide all our customers with real-time track and trace data, giving them full visibility of any container movement worldwide,” Hapag-Lloyd Chief Operating Officer Maximilian Rothkopf said in the statement. “We will be able to detect delays earlier, inform impacted customers automatically, and initiate counteractions at an early stage.”

Real-time tracking will be “a game changer 

Hapag-Lloyd Chief Operating Officer Maximilian Rothkopf added the carrier’s approach to real-time tracking will be “a game changer for the entire container shipping industry.”

Hapag-Lloyd rivals CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) have made their own investments in container sensors, using devices from Marseilles-based Traxens, but none have committed to equip their entire dry box fleet.

Aside from the ability to offer customers visibility into the location and condition of goods via the tracking devices, such hardware also enables Hapag-Lloyd to have more real-time and predictive insight into its fleet of containers.