Six container ships will be replacing existing boats owned by Del Monte Fresh Produce for its East Coast fleet used for delivering produce from Central and South America to the U.S. In other news, the Port of Tampa is now receiving pineapples.
The first ship is estimated to be ready in late 2019, according to a news release.
The vessels were designed by Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute in Shanghai, China, and are being built at the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute, Guangzhou, China.
Each vessel will have a capacity of 634 40-foot high cube container capacity, according to the release.
Dennis Christou, vice president of marketing for Del Monte, said the new container vessels will increase the company’s tonnage capacity and “speed to market.”
“The new energy efficient vessels are designed to meet the most stringent (International Maritime Organization) emission control regulations coming into effect in 2020,” Christou said.
Christou noted Del Monte was one of the first large-scale banana companies to receive SCS Carbon Neutral Certification for banana operations in Costa Rica.
“These new ships are an extension of our sustainability commitment on the high seas,” he said in the release.
Port Tampa Bay
Port Logistics Refrigerated Services at Port Tampa Bay, FL, recently received its first shipment of pineapples.
Chestnut Hills Farms of Miami was the recipient of the initial arrival, which came from Costa Rica to the cold storage company at the port. Refrigerated containers of the fruit arrived at the cold storage facility several weeks ago. The shipment, loaded at the Port of Moin in Costa Rica, was delivered by the Seacat Line in a new ship, the M/V Juice Express.
“This new routing provides us with excellent access to serve our customers in Florida and throughout the Southeastern United States,” Raul Romero, president and chief operating officer at Chestnut Hill Farms, said in the release. “We expect this will be the first of regular ongoing shipments.”
The new Port Logistics Refrigerated Services on-dock cold storage facility has on-site USDA/Customs and Border Protection inspection and fumigation services. The 130,000-square-foot facility has 102 refrigerated container plugs and a dedicated mobile harbor crane.
In February, the facility made possible the first shipments of bananas in more than 20 years at the port. The shipment, of more than 3,900 pallets of Chiquita-brand bananas, originated from Ecuador.