In its annual report published today (20 March), Hapag-Lloyd has reported that its fleet’s bunker consumption totalled 4.7 million metric tonnes (mt) in 2024, which was an increase of 18.9% on the previous year’s 4.0 million mt.
The shipping giant said that this was ‘due in particular to the tense security situation in the Red Sea and the resulting need to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope’, while increased transport volume also led to higher consumption.
The company added that bunker consumption per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) transported increased by 13.5% from 0.33 tonnes per TEU in 2023 to 0.38 tonnes in 2024.
As of 24 December 2024, Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet comprised of 299 container vessels, of which 109 have so far been modernised as part of an upgrade programme initiated in 2022.
The company has also been introducing new vessels running on alternative fuels as part of ‘Strategy 2030’ sustainability programme. Summarising its efforts on this front in 2024, Hapag-Lloyd said: ‘In the reporting year, we expanded our fleet by adding five highly efficient dual-fuel ships and launched an extensive newbuild programme involving 24 additional dual-fuel ships, making it the largest in the company’s history.
‘In addition, we have vigorously advanced the modernisation of our existing fleet and implemented effective efficiency measures, such as installing new ship propellers, which directly contribute to considerable reductions in emissions.
‘At the same time, we have decided to convert five ships to methanol propulsion by 2026 and have secured 250,000 tons of green methanol per year through a long-term offtake agreement, which will save us up to 400,000 metric tonnes of CO2e.
‘Our low-emission transport solution “Ship Green” is also becoming increasingly popular with our customers – with more than 200,000 TEU sold, we were able to achieve a significant increase in sales and save 158,000 metric tons of CO2e through the use of biofuels.’
In terms of its overall trading performance, Hapag-Lloyd saw a slight increase in its operating result, with group EBITDA increasing from $4.8 billion to $5.0 billion.
Hapag-Lloyd’s CEO Rolf Habben Jansen commented: ‘In a challenging market environment, we achieved solid results and further increased customer satisfaction. We have further consolidated and expanded our terminal business under the Hanseatic Global Terminals brand. We have worked hard to further improve processes which will yield results in the years to come and stepped up our investments in digitalization and training of our people. Finally, we launched the largest newbuild program in our company’s history, which will enable us to further modernize and decarbonise our fleet.’
Click here to access Hapag-Llloyd's Annual Report 2024.
