Another hot year for reefer lessors

Carrier Transicold, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of reefer machinery, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH are to work together on cold chain training and educational programmes in Costa Rica and South Africa.

Carrier Transicold has supplied Taiwan’s second largest liner shipping company with 2,000 of its PrimeLine reefer machines.

Hapag-Lloyd, which is leading the liner shipping industry when it comes to fitting smart devices to its dry freight containers, is pressing ahead with its installation programme. It expects the whole of its 1.6M TEU owned fleet to be smart early in 2024. Already more than 80% of its reefer containers are fitted with devices that in addition to tracking the container’s position, monitor temperature and humidity levels inside the equipment.

A sharp fall in orders for new containers has taken its toll on container manufacturers with H1 2023 revenues and profits at China International Marine Containers (CIMC), Dong Fang International Containers (DFIC) and Singamas well down on the corresponding period of 2022.

There is no doubt that advances in technology, particularly in the development of controlled atmosphere (CA) systems has contributed to the growth in the reefer container shipping industry, and this is set to continue.

Daikin’s Active CA has successfully demonstrated that delicate Thai mangoes can be converted from air freight to ocean transport.