Shipment management software solutions provider, CargoSmart, announced the execution of Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) Services Agreements with maritime industry operators CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping Lines, Cosco Shipping Ports, Hapag-Lloyd, Hutchison Ports, OOCL, Port of Qingdao, PSA International and Shanghai International Port Group.
In line with an overall tendency to automation, German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is currently testing robots onboard nine ships, to improve ship painting and shorten the docking time. The shipyard staff works by hand on the bulbous bow, below the bilge keels, at the propeller apertures, and on the flat bottom.
After the recent attacks in the Gulf of Oman, Hapag Lloyd announced that the operating costs for their services in the Middle East Gulf region have increased. The attacks shocked the shipping industry resulting to CMA CGM also increasing its insurance costs in the area and implementing a War Risk Surcharge.
As Hapag Lloyd reported, it placed a record-breaking order for ‘reefers’, also known as refrigerated containers. The production of 970 20-foot containers and 12,450 40-foot containers is already planned to begin in July. They will offer real-time GPS positioning, information on the temperature inside the container and systems for notifications and alarm management.
Hapag-Lloyd and Singapore-based Ocean Network Express (ONE) Pte. Ltd announced they will join the blockchain-enabled digital shipping platform ‘TradeLens’. This platform is jointly developed by A.P. Moller – Maersk and IBM. Hapag-Lloyd and ONE now join CMA CGM and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, both of which recently announced they are joining TradeLens.
Wall Street Journal reported that Hapag-Lloyd and Taiwanese carrier Evergreen Marine Corp have separately placed orders to Asian yards for the construction of more than a dozen mega-container ships that would have a combined value of about $2.2 billion.
Hapag-Lloyd presented its new real-time container monitoring program ‘Hapag-Lloyd LIVE’. The program offers real-time GPS location, temperature information, and power-off alerts, among other services. In an initial effort, the company is retrofitting its entire reefer fleet of some 100,000 containers.
As Hapag-Lloyd confirmed, Yantian Express safely arrived at Halifax on May 20, 2019. Now, the ship is berthed at the terminal and has started discharging its cargo. The ship must also back load empty containers to achieve the necessary stability criteria to perform a safe passage to Asia where it will undergo permanent repairs.
Hapag-Lloyd announced that the fire-stricken Yantian Express departed from Freeport, Bahamas, on the evening of May 2019. According to the company, the vessel sailed after ‘all necessary preparatory work could be successfully concluded’.
The Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) welcomed five additional, new members; CMA CGM, Evergreen, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Yang Ming and ZIM. Already existent members in the Association are Maersk, Hapag Lloyd, MSC and ONE.
