BERLIN, May 26 (Xinhua) -- German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd continued to expand its container fleet by ordering an additional 60,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) of standard containers from China.

"Demand continues to be very high, and the supply of container equipment is currently one of our industry's biggest challenges and demands our full attention," said Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer (CEO) of Hapag-Lloyd, in a statement released on Wednesday.

The first containers from China would be delivered as early as July, with the majority to follow in the third quarter of the year, according to Hapag-Lloyd, which operates a fleet of 241 container ships with a total transport capacity of 1.7 million TEU.

In April, Hapag-Lloyd announced to ramp up its container capacities by around 150,000 TEU of standard and reefer containers in 2021. With the new order, the company is looking to an expansion of container fleet by 210,000 TEU this year.

Congestion in ports and delays in hinterland transports were causing containers to be "tied up in transit for considerably longer periods of time" and more boxes were currently needed to manage the same transport volume as before, Hapag-Lloyd noted. Enditem

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