Hapag-Lloyd gears up for the Panama Canal expansion with reefer order

German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd has ordered 6,000 reefer containers with a total capacity of 12,000 teu in preparation for the next year’s Panama Canal expansion.

The “double-digit million” investment, which marks the largest reefer order in the company’s history, follows an order in April for five new 10,500 teu ships, with each able to accommodate up 2,100 reefers.

The new buildings are to be used primarily on trades to and from South America and the new reefers, manufactured by Chinese company CIMC, are to be gradually integrated into the container fleet starting in the coming weeks.