Ocean Network Express (ONE) is expanding its current refrigerated container (reefer) fleet by adding another 5000 (40” HC) units, including 200 units equipped with advanced Controlled Atmosphere (CA) technology, to meet
growing demand of refrigerated cargo around the world.

ONE has one of the largest, state of the art reefer fleet in the world, equipped with the most advanced technologies designed to handle perishable cargo demand. With this new investment of 5000 reefer units, coming on the heels of last year’s procurement of 6,000 units, ONE demonstrates its strong commitment to meet growing demand for containerized reefer trade.

In 2019, global refrigerated container volume grew by more than 7%, augmented by expansion of middle class in Asia constantly demanding healthy food choices. In 2020 too, despite challenges posed by coronavirus pandemic, the prospect of global refrigerated container trade remains strong specially for protein and fresh fruits segment and ONE expects the growth momentum to be maintained for remaining months of the year.

ONE is currently working towards the application of latest IoT technology into its fleet of reefer containers which allows real time visibility of critical information such as temperature, humidity inside the container, thereby enhancing value chain proposition of perishable trade.

Jun Shibata, Senior Vice President of Strategic Yield Management, commented “As one of the leading refrigerated container carriers in the world, ONE is continuously investing in new reefer containers to meet growing demand in perishable cargo segment around the world. We are committed to provide our customers with reefer containers equipped with the most up to date specifications to ship perishable goods and enable them to expand to new markets around the world.”

ONE’s Global reefer strategy The Global Reefer Business Planning team (GRBP), based at ONE’s HQ in Singapore, develops ONE’s global reefer marketing and business strategy through close monitoring of market demand and closely collaborating with the regional reefer steering desks located in different parts of the world. ONE’s Reefer technical team is available both on board and on shore to provide round the clock assistance and monitoring of precious reefer cargo thorughout the voyage.

HMM held a naming ceremony for a 24,000 TEU-class containership ‘HMM Algeciras’, the world’s largest containership, at the DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering)’s Okpo shipyard in Geoje, Korea.

About 160 distinguished persons attended the ceremony, including Moon Jae-in (President of the Republic of Korea), Hong Nam-ki (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance), Moon Seong-hyeok (Minister of Oceans and Fisheries), Eun Sung-soo (Chairman of Financial Services Commission), Lee Dong Gull (Chairman and CEO of Korea Development Bank), Hwang Ho-seon (President of Korea Ocean Business Corporation) and Bae Jae Hoon (President and CEO of HMM).

In particular, First Lady Kim Jung-sook served as godmother who cut the ropes to officially name the ship during the ceremony.

‘HMM Algeciras’ is the first of twelve 24,000 TEU-class vessels scheduled to be sequentially delivered until September, 2020. 

In September 2018, HMM signed a formal contract for its twenty eco-friendly mega container vessels with three shipyards – DSME, HHI(Hyundai Heavy Industries) and SHI(Samsung Heavy Industries) in an effort to take proactive actions towards market change as well as form a sustainable profit-generating structure.

DSME and SHI build seven and five 24,000 TEU-class containerships, respectively, which are expected for delivery until September, 2020. HHI constructs eight 16,000 TEU-class containerships to be delivered from the second quarter of 2021.

HMM plans to enhance its environmental capabilities by operating newly-launched twenty containerships. The vessels are basically equipped with a scrubber system in preparation for IMO 2020 environmental regulation. Optimised hull design and highly-efficient engine are also expected to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

“For me, it is very meaningful that HMM takes delivery of the most technologically advanced containership in this difficult time. I would like to celebrate it and hope that HMM continues to secure a competitive advantage as a Korean national flagship carrier.”, says Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea.

“HMM will strive to expand its presence in the global shipping industry based on optimised fleet management and new cooperation with THE Alliance.” adds Bae Jae Hoon, President & CEO of HMM.

‘HMM Algeciras’ will be deployed on Far East Europe 4 (FE4) service, one of the Asia-North Europe trade lanes of THE Alliance, with its port rotation starting at Qingdao, Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Suez Canal, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, London Gateway, then Singapore via Suez Canal.

Vessel Particulars of HMM Algeciras

LOA : approx. 399.9m

Beam : 61.0m

Depth : 33.2m

Capacity : 23,964 TEU

Flag : Panama

Crowley Logistics has added 222 new refrigerated (reefer) cargo containers to its industry-leading equipment fleet to ensure equipment availability at origin for perishables moving through the cold chain. These units are in addition to 300 new reefers received in January of this year.

The new units, which are all 40-foot-long high cubes, are built to Crowley’s exacting standards and further demonstrate the company’s focus on offering customers the most reliable and efficient equipment in the Central America and Caribbean markets. These units have wireless asset monitoring (WAM) technology, which provides continuous monitoring as the reefers transit from origin to destination, both at sea and over land, to ensure the cold chain is maintained the entire time goods are moving.

“The acquisition of these containers is part of our continued commitment to provide the best equipment in the right quantities – all strategically positioned to meet customers’  needs during peak season and throughout the rest of the year,” said Steve Collar, senior vice president and general manager, Crowley Logistics.

Crowley’s industry-leading equipment, combined with grower and farm services such as load planning and equipment sanitization, make Crowley a trusted partner for perishables shippers.  In addition to providing in-transit services such as location and temperature monitoring, the company offers customs clearance, fumigation options, refrigerated storage and last-mile delivery to ensure quality through single-source accountability.

The containers arrived in Santo Tomas, Guatemala this month and are already being used in support of Central America’s continuing heavy northbound reefer season. The new containers are equipped with environmentally friendly Star Cool refrigeration units, incorporating several changes to further boost efficiency and reliability.

Since 2014, Crowley has invested roughly $160 million in new cargo equipment for its fleet. Today, the company operates over 50,000 pieces of owned and leased intermodal equipment. The equipment’s diverse sizes and strategic locations throughout the U.S, Central America and the Caribbean provide customers a variety of solutions to meet demands.