Page 12 - Port of Hamburg | Port of Hamburg Magazine 1.2022

■ CONTAINER WORLDS
12 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2022
Keeping it cool
Anybody transporting perishable and sensitive produce will depend on a goodly portion of expertise. Transport temperature, humidity and air renewal all need to be set precisely at all times.
The Port of Hamburg is an essential hub for transport of foodstuffs throughout Germany. Packed in a con- tainer, nowadays the produce usually arrives aboard the seagoing vessel at the terminal. There it starts the last section of its usually lengthy journey by rail or truck. Yet one container is not identical with another. Especially for the transport of perishable and temper- ature-sensitive produce, the correct equipment is es- sential. Bananas from overseas, but also fish from Scandinavia need identical refrigeration throughout the trip, if quality is to be maintained. Dedicated reef- er containers do the job.
OPTIMAL CLIMATE
Most reefer containers are equipped with similar tech- nology. The principle there always remains the same. An integrated cooling unit and specific storage regu- lations keep the air in the box at the desired tempera- ture. However simple the idea may sound, highly complex technology is essential for ensuring an unin- terrupted cooling chain.
Fruit and vegetables, for example, are known in the transport industry as ‘living commodities’ and must be handled accordingly. After the harvest, they take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide and ethylene gas. Were fruit and veg to be transported in a convention-
al container, the ripening process would continue un- interrupted. It would even be accelerated by rising temperatures in the interior of the box. That would be fatal for such produce as bananas, with Germany an- nually importing around 1,400,000 tons. The journey from the top countries of origin in South and Central America frequently lasts more than ten days. To en- sure that a banana arrives firm and fresh at a super- market, Hapag-Lloyd, for example, makes use of the fruit’s breathing process. Should sensors notice too high or too low a quantity of oxygen and/or carbon di- oxide, ventilation is adjusted. Temperature is also au- tomatically adjusted. By controlling the composition of the air in the reefer container, the shipping line also slows down the ripening process and lengthens the shelf-life of the sensitive produce.
Depending on the type of fruit or veg, requirements of the transport climate differ, so a mass of expertise is required. Blueberries, for example, react sensitive- ly to CO2. These therefore travel in a reefer container with a vacuum pump and a possibility for gassing. Since it can be gassed during transport with carbon dioxide, as well as nitrogen, this type of container is especially suitable for produce whose natural ripen- ing process does not suffice to produce the desired atmosphere.
© HHLA/Astrid Grünau
© Hapag-Lloyd