Fresh Del Monte Produce announced plans to add six new energy efficient reefer container vessels to its fleet. The addition of the new vessels named – Del Monte Gold, Del Monte Rose, Del Monte Harvester, Del Monte Spirit, Del Monte Valiant and Del Monte Pride – marks a new chapter in environmental sustainability for the company.
The first of the six vessels, the Del Monte Gold, embarked on the high seas earlier this month, traveling from Hong Kong, China, toward the Panama Canal. Like its siblings, the Del Monte Gold has a full cargo capacity of 1,276 TEU with 634 plugs for 40-foot-high cube reefer containers. Given the perishable nature of fresh fruits and vegetables, the air-cooled containers will maintain the cargo at specified temperatures, traveling in reefer mode with multiple temperature variants from -25°C to 40°C.
“We have been working toward this goal since 2017 and could not be more excited to see it come to fruition,” said Helmuth Lutty, Senior Vice President of Shipping Operations for Fresh Del Monte Produce. “As one of the world’s leading producer, marketer and distributer of fresh fruits and vegetables, we have set a very high bar for all the reefer containers and ships in our fleet. These six new vessels set the bar even higher, and allow us to deliver the high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables we are known for while meeting our sustainability goals.”
Each vessel meets the most stringent emission control regulation and includes:
· Latest hull design and vertical bow to achieve a service speed of up to 22 knots with a very efficient fuel consumption.
· Fitted with Hybrid Scrubber system, meeting all international requirements to reduce pollution and control emissions of noxious substances.
· Fitted with shore power connection to use Alternate Marine Power (AMP) at ports allowing ships to work with shore power (Cold ironing) without having to use IFO or MGO while in port where facilities are available and/or required.
· Fitted with the latest preventive maintenance system technology on all machineries on board with the purpose to have efficient combustion on main and auxiliary engines and control of main components replacement efficiently according to manufacturer’s parameters.
“Today, shipping accounts for the largest portion of our global energy use,” said Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer of Fresh Del Monte Produce. “In 2018, we committed to lead by example and reduce our vessel emission by 10 percent. With the addition of these six new container vessels we are well on our way, estimating a savings of nearly 19,000 metric tons of fuel each year.”
