ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has expanded its refrigerated container inventory in response to an increased shipper demand for its ZIMonitor container tracking service.

As a result, the carrier has on order approximately 1,900 40-foot high-cube refrigerated containers that are scheduled to be deployed this year. The “environmentally-friendly containers” were specifically designed with ZIMonitor tracking capability and will carry a special ZMOU prefix.

Launched early last year after a successful pilot shipment for American-Israeli multinational Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, ZIMonitor allows customers to track, monitor and remotely control sensitive cargo stowed in refrigerated cargo containers.

The service allows customers “to receive alerts regarding their shipment via text message or email, closely monitor their cargo’s status,” the company said. “It also alerts changes in temperature, humidity, and unauthorized container door opening.”

In addition the system “tracks the container routing by GPS and alerts any deviation from the specified route by a pre-defined radius. The unit’s settings, such as temperature, can be remotely modified and reset.”

ZIMonitor, it added, “is suitable to all types of sensitive and high-value cargo, such as pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs, which require constant monitoring and special attentions. While the service is provided in refrigerated containers, it is available for non-refrigerated cargo, as well.”

The tracking service “is fully compliant with the European Union’s Good Distribution Practice guidelines for the shipment of medicinal products and provides “ongoing data flow, alerts and automatic reports, along with a 24/7 dedicated and professional response team along the cargo route to promptly respond and prevent damage,” it added.