New Maersk fruit service to Hamburg
The Frucht- und Kühl-Zentrum (fruit and refrigeration centre) of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) has acquired an additional weekly call. The first call was on 25 January. It marks the beginning of handling operations at O’Swaldkai for shipping company Maersk’s new service. On board are Colombian bananas and other fruits bound for Europe. With the new service, the HHLA fruit and refrigeration centre is further expanding its position as the most important German handling location for bananas.
The new Colombia Express reefer container service is Maersk’s second service to call at Hamburg. It will primarily transport cargo, which the importer, Fyffes, had previously shipped to Europe via Portsmouth and Antwerp using its own services. This new Maersk service will call at Hamburg in addition to these two ports.
The first ship to arrive in Hamburg as part of the Colombia Express service is the Antwerp Trader. Just like all the ships that will be used for this service, the Antwerp Trader has more than 550 reefer connection points and can therefore easily transport the intended 450 reefer containers in addition to other cargo.