Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd aims to expand its interests in terminals around the world, CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said in Hamburg on Tuesday as he outlined the shipping company’s new business strategy.
“Our goal is to expand our terminal portfolio by ten to fifteen terminals by 2030,” says Habben Jansen. This would significantly bring the number to over thirty.
Hapag-Lloyd aims to reduce costs by up to 20% and reduce CO2 emissions by a third by 2030. Punctuality must increase from approximately 50% now to more than 80%.
The aim is to maintain its position as the fifth largest container shipping company in the world and grow faster than the market in key regions in Africa, India, South East Asia and the Pacific.
Hapag-Lloyd operates 266 container ships with an annual volume of 11.9 million standard containers. Switzerland’s MSC, Denmark’s Maersk, France’s CMA/CGM and China’s COSCO are the only larger companies in the sector. After Hapag-Lloyd are Singapore’s One and Taiwan’s Evergreen.
Habben Jansen expressed his concern about the situation in the Middle East. The company is no longer sending its ships through the Suez Canal but around the southern tip of Africa due to attacks on shipping by Yemen-based Houthi rebels.
Although this would not impact the 2030 targets, “in the short term it will [Hapag-Lloyd] under extreme pressure,” he said. The ships not only have to take the longer route, but also travel faster to meet their schedules.
A difference of three knots (5.6 kilometers per hour) could mean a drop of almost 5 million tons of CO2, compared to a total of 15.5 million tons. “The effect is really very, very big,” said Habben Jansen.
