REAL-TIME TRACKING

Hapag-Lloyd will equip all its containers with trackers, so that they can be followed in real time. To this end, the German shipping company has concluded agreements with the suppliers Nexxiot and Orbcomm.

The shipping company does not say when that operation should be completed. She does announce that Hapag Live, on which customers can follow the boxes, will be available in the course of next year. Hapag started installing trackers on its reefer containers three years ago.

In addition to GPS data, the trackers also record the temperature and any shock movements. For the energy supply of the devices, Hapag says it works with ‘energy harvesting’, which means that they have an ‘ultra-long’ life and can transmit data at a high frequency.

Hapag’s own container fleet comprises three million TEU. It is unclear whether containers from third parties, such as lessors, can also be equipped with the trackers. The German shipping company says it is the first to decide to connect all its containers to the internet. Both Hapag and the suppliers speak of a ‘game changer’ in container transport.