Shipping companies are slowly releasing their first quarter results. The shipping industry is being plagued by challenges due to the Red Sea crisis.
Hapag-Lloyd ended the first quarter of 2024 with a Group EBITDA of $942 million. This is a decrease compared to the same quarter last year, with Group EBIT falling to $396 million and Group profit dropping to $325 million.
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd says even though its results are significantly below the exceptionally strong figures from the previous year owing to the normalization of supply chains, the company is pleased.
The importance of the Red Sea in logistics
The Red Sea is a crucial corridor connecting the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean and beyond. Its strategic location gives shippers access to Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Red Sea route is the natural sailing route between these regions.
Rerouting of ships
The logistics and shipping industries have had to brace themselves with the challenges in recent months and deciding on whether to re-route vessels due to the Red Sea crisis.
Other shipping lines like Maersk’s quarter one results showed some strong recovery compared to the last quarter. The company
“The rates stabilized in the first quarter due to the rerouting of ships around the Cape of Good Hope and higher demand for capacity. The numerous new ships that have and will be delivered across the industry in 2024 have been instrumental to keep the Supply Chains going without too much disruption, says Jansen.
Jansen adds that going forward, the company must keep a close eye on our costs, and it will continue the implementation of our Strategy 2030.
Innovation in shipping
Earlier this month, Hapag-Lloyd unveiled “Live Position,” a dry container tracking solution for logistics. This new offering gives customers unprecedented visibility, tracking their shipments from the point of departure to the final destination.
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Photo Credit: Hapag-Lloyd (Facebook)
About the author
Sharl is a qualified journalist. He has over 10 years’ experience in the media industry, including positions as an editor of a magazine and Business Editor of a daily newspaper. Sharl also has experience in logistics specifically operations, where he worked with global food aid organisations distributing food into Africa. Sharl enjoys writing business stories and human interest pieces.
