Hapag-Lloyd has announced that the first real-time tracking devices are now being installed on dry containers at the CMR depot in Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg, Germany, as the first step in the company’s project to equip its entire dry container fleet with Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The German ocean carrier said that installations will begin in other selected container depots in North and South Europe, Asia and the Middle East in the following weeks and months, while within the next year, up to 200 depots worldwide will take part in the installation of 1.6 million of these devices on standard boxes, according to Hapag-Lloyd’s statement.
The initial plan is the vast majority of Hapag-Lloyd’s dry containers to be outfitted with these devices by the end of next year.
“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,” commented Dr. Maximilian Rothkopf, COO of Hapag-Lloyd.
The Hapag-Lloyd LIVE product for dry containers will become available for customers over the course of 2023, according to the company.
The Hamburg-based container shipping firm noted the tracking devices will be able to transmit data in real time from each container and to thereby make supply chains more transparent and efficient.
The container fleet is currently being equipped with devices from the established TradeTech partner Nexxiot, and devices from IoT solutions provider ORBCOMM will also be installed starting later this year.
“In this first rollout phase, it will be important to streamline all processes together with our IoT partners so as to achieve the technology’s full potential. At the same time, we aim to make this product quickly available to our customers, as they require and increasingly expect these kinds of digitalised solutions,” pointed out Andrea Schöning, senior director container steering.
