SIMIC

ZIM revealed itself as a participant in a Series A financing round alongside other new and existing investors in Hoopo Systems, a provider of tracking solutions for unpowered assets like dry shipping containers, reports gCaptain, Ventura, California.

The investment is intended to help Hoopo develop technology for the maritime industry, including the use of solar-powered tracking devices for containers.

Eli Glickman, president and CEO of Zim, said: "In a time when the ability to improve supply chains has proven to be a critical competency, we are pleased to embark on this new digital initiative. There are approximately twenty-six million dry containers worldwide, and Hoopo's cutting-edge tracking technology has the potential to revolutionise the way industry players track their movement, enabling further optimization of container fleets."

According to shipping industry analyst Drewry, the market for "smart" is set to explode in the coming years as supply chain stakeholders are seeking to gain more visibility into freight movements as supply chains have descended into chaos during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drewry forecasts the fleet of "telematics enabled container equipment" is set grow eight-fold over the next five years and account for 25 per cent of the global box fleet by 2026 - or about 8.7 million units.

For comparison, at the end of 2021 only 3.6 per cent of the global container fleet was equipped with such devices, according to Drewry figures, but technology is mainly reserved for reefer and intermodal containers, where smart containers represent approximately a third and 40 per cent of the respective global fleets. Only 0.3 pr cent correspond to dry containers.

In April, German ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd announced intention to equip its entire dry box fleet, representing approximately 3 million TEU, with smart devices as it seeks to become a "first-mover" in the space. This will likely force other leading carriers to follow suit.