New era of shipping for perishables

摘要

Two state-of the-art reefers are allowing Agrexco to speed up the transportation of fresh produce by sea and at the same time make cost savings. Agrexco, Israel's leading agricul-tural export company, is entering a new era of sea transportation for fresh produce. It is employing two new, tailor-made, super-modern refrigerated reefers, especially built for the transfer of fresh produce. The two new reefers are among the world's most advanced maritime carriers of fresh produce which should help reducecosts by 40%. They are the only ones in the world with 2.5 meters high storage rooms, conforming to international standards of truck and rail transport measurements. What makes these two new reefers unique is their high-speed, automatic conveyor systemswhich use sensors and cameras to move pallets to each of the 18 refrigerated compartments in the ships' six levels of cold storage facilities. The first vessel, "Carmel Ecofresh," made her maiden voyage at the end of December 2003. Her twin-sister, "Carmel Biotop," started sailing in mid February. Both vessels will sail on a scheduled weekly program from Ashdod to Marseilles, Valencia and Genoa, making a one-way trip in just three days, instead of the four days it took the two old vessels, "Carmel Exotic" and "Carmel Topaz" which served Agrexco for the past 30 years.