Rickmers' breakbulk niche. (Rickmers Line)

Hapag-Lloyd company swims against the container tide, specializes in cargo that doesn't fit in a 40-foot box.

This summer, Rickmers Line's Juraj Dalmatinac left Houston with a load of trucks, mining equipment, piping, resins, lubricating oils, motor graders and machinery parts, sailing directly to the ports of Whampoa, Xingang, Dalian and Quingdao in China.

Most of this diverse collection did not travel in containers. The multi-purpose vessel had taken on breakbulk cargo of varying sizes, under the scrutiny of Capt. Helmut Koenitzer, head of operations at Rickmers Line (America) in Houston.

Anyone watching the ship being loaded might wonder what had happened to the container revolution.

The Dalmatinac carried a few containers, but they were placed …