Hapag-Lloyd restricting heavy containers in Europe-to-Asia market

Hapag-Lloyd restricting heavy containers in Europe-to-Asia market Hapag-Lloyd has decided to limit the transport of heavy containers in the Europe-to-Far East route to release capacity for the return of empty boxes to Asia.
   “Growing imbalances in the Europe-Far East trade are resulting in an increasing number of empty containers to be redelivered to the Asian markets, which is a substantial cost factor for all shipping lines,” the German shipping line said in a statement.
   Describing the decision to limit heavy containers, Hapag-Lloyd said: “The positive side effect is that the TEU utilization of the vessels can be optimized, there is more operational flexibility and the bunker savings are overcompensating the contribution of heavy containers. Hapag-Lloyd plans to retain this strategy until market conditions are improving.”