The company was formed on 1 September 1970, by the merger of
Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG), founded in 1847, and
Norddeutscher Lloyd (known in English as North German Lloyd), which was formed in 1857. Since its formation, Hapag-Lloyd has seen changes among its shareholders and has also undergone a number of mergers with other companies. For instance, Hapag-Lloyd was completely acquired by, and became a
subsidiary of
TUI AG (
Hanover) in 1998. This transition was followed by TUI selling a majority stake of Hapag-Lloyd to private investors in Hamburg in 2009 and further sales in 2012. Other important events in the history of the company include Hapag-Lloyd's acquisition of
CP Ships in 2005 as well as Hapag-Lloyd's merger with the container business of
CSAV in 2014, and United Arab Shipping Company in 2017.
HAPAG The
Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft for shipping across the
Atlantic Ocean was founded in Hamburg. In 1912, HAPAG built the first of their "Big Three" ocean liners; the
Imperator, followed by its twin
Vaterland. A third ship,
Bismarck, was under construction at the outbreak of
World War I and was completed after the war for
White Star Line as the
Majestic. These were the first liners to exceed 50,000 gross register tons and 900 feet (274 m) in length. During
World War I, the majority of HAPAG's fleet of 175 ships were wiped out, and most of the surviving ships (including the "Big Three") had to be turned over to the winning side as war reparations. After the war's end, HAPAG rebuilt its fleet with much smaller ships than before the war.
Norddeutscher Lloyd and Europa''
Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) was formed in 1857 in the City-State of
Bremen, offering passenger and cargo transportation between Bremen and New York, with an emphasis on emigration to the United States. Service started in June 1858 with the
Bremen, the first of four steamships, and the company established its American base at
Hoboken, New Jersey. NDL eventually built a large fleet of ships that carried many thousands of emigrants westwards, with around 218,000 passengers transported across the Atlantic in 1913 alone. The outbreak of
World War I resulted in the internment of 32 vessels in US ports, a status later changed to confiscation when the US entered the war in 1917. Likewise, its Hoboken base was confiscated and turned over to the US Navy, which used it as a transshipping point for the duration of the war. As with HAPAG, the NDL ships surviving the war were eventually confiscated as reparation, leaving the company to start over from scratch. US operations were resumed in 1922, when NDL was able to purchase its former base from the United States Alien Property Administrator. NDL took delivery of new liners
Bremen and
Europa in 1929–30. During
World War II, NDL repeated its World War I experience, with some parts of its fleet again being interned at the outbreak of the war, while a number of vessels remained under NDL control. One such exception was the
Bremen, which raced across the Atlantic, and achieved protection at
Murmansk in 1939, before eventually making a dash for Bremerhaven, where she was ultimately destroyed by a fire in 1941. Passenger service resumed in 1954 with the
Gripsholm formerly belonging to the
Swedish American Line (the ship was renamed to only the following year). Later two other second-hand ships, (formerly
Pasteur) and (formerly Swedish American Line's
Kungsholm), were purchased. In August 2008, TUI announced an intention to sell its entire stake in Hapag-Lloyd shipping activities before the end of that year. Industry speculation predicted a sale price of approximately US$5.9 billion. In October 2019, Hapag-Lloyd acquired a 10 percent stake in Container Terminal 3 (TC3) of the
Tangier Med 2 port in
Morocco. In April 2022, Hapag-Lloyd acquired a participation in JadeWeserPort Wilhelmshaven, taking ownership of a 30 percent stake in Container Terminal Wilhellmshaven (CTW) and a 50 percent stake in Rail Terminal Wilhelmshaven (RTW). On 12 January 2023, Hapag-Lloyd acquired a 49% minority stake in Spinelli Group, an Italian terminal and transport operator. Around three months later, on 19 April 2023, Hapag-Lloyd also acquired a 40% stake in J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Limited (JMBPL), a terminal and inland transport service provider in
India. In August 2023, it was announced Hapag-Lloyd had acquired SM SAAM's terminal business and related logistics services in the
Americas. Since then, Hapag-Lloyd's business activities have been divided into the segments of Liner Shipping on the one hand and Terminal & Infrastructure on the other. The Terminal & Infrastructure division has been operating under the brand name "Hanseatic Global Terminals" since July 2024. It is a fully owned but independent stand-alone business unit based in Rotterdam. Also in 2023, Hapag-Lloyd and the Brazilian shipping and waterway logistics company Norsul set up a new joint venture called "Norcoast". Based on a 50-50 partnership, Norcoast started offering container cabotage and feeder services in Brazilian ports in the first quarter of 2024. In January 2024, it was announced that Hapag-Lloyd, together with
Maersk, would launch a long-term operational cooperation under the name
Gemini Cooperation in February 2025; Hapag-Lloyd simultaneously announced that it would leave “THE Alliance” in January 2025. The new cooperation is expected to comprise around 340 ships with a combined capacity of 3.7 million standard containers (TEU); of these, Maersk is to provide 60% and Hapag-Lloyd 40%. In January 2026, the complete takeover of the Florida International Terminal in
Port Everglades by Rotterdam-based Hapag Lloyd subsidiary Hanseatic Global Terminals was announced. The company had already held a stake in the port since 2023. In February 2026 Hapag-Lloyd announced its acquisition of Israeli shipping company
ZIM, for $4.2 billion. ==Corporate affairs==