The New Fruit Wharf Terminal in Antwerp ha[ds_preview]s landed a new weekly reefer service with CMA CGM‘s »Pointe des Colibris« being the first vessel to call.
Among other things the ship carried bananas from Suriname to the Belgian port. These will be distributed via the port to the local market and to surrounding countries. The owner of the bananas is FAI, fruit partner of Greenyard, one of the worlds biggest companies in fresh and prepared vegetables and fruit, based in Sint-Katelijne-Waver (Belgium). For carrying the bananas Greenyard has signed a new contract with the the French shipping company CMA CGM, with one of the crucial factors being the direct call at the BNFW fruit terminal. According to the port of Antwerp a direct call like this reduces the throughput time in the logistics chain, which for perishable goods such as fruit and vegetables is naturally very important.
The arrival of CMA CGM represents the third container reefer carrier for BNFW, after Maersk and Hamburg Süd, both of which have opted for a direct service to Antwerp during the past two years or less. In 2016 alone a reefer volume of more than 9 mill. t was in the biggest port of Belgium. Expressed in TEU this represents an increase of 6.1 % over the previous year Port of Antwerp stated.
Until just a few years ago, fruit such as bananas was carried as bulk freight. But the growth in containerisation means that bananas are increasingly shipped in refrigerated containers.
Weekly Service from CMA CGM
Greenyard too has opted for a direct service to Antwerp with CMA CGM. The docked ships are part of CMA CGM’s North Europe French West Indies (NEFWI) service. Every Wednesday, vessels with a capacity of 2,800 TEU will call at the BNFW terminal on quay 212 in the Leopolddok. They are planned to enter the port at 0600 hours and to leave it at 1400 the same day. In this short space of time an average of 50 containers (with some 43,000 bananas per container) are unloaded. It is planned to increase this number with time. In addition containers will also be loaded on board Port of Antwerp informs.
