Cryogenics brings cost-effective perishable option to shippers

Containers require no outside power source Ray Smuts CRYOGENICS, THAT branch of science dealing with very low temperatures and commonly associated with the freezing of human bodies, has other useful applications as South African importers and exporters are about to discover. Container Services Co. and GoReefers International have entered into an operational agreement to market and deploy Cryo-Power containers manufactured by CSC for frozen cargoes ranging from meat to fish, vegetables and ice cream. The joint venture has the exclusive right to use the US-developed CSC cryogenic container - using CO2 as a refrigerant and said to be environmentally-friendly - for all frozen traffic on trade routes between Europe and South America, United States, Africa, New Zealand and China. The companies say for decades the only means of shipping frozen goods by sea internationally was in mechanical refrigerated or reefer containers, a capital intensive, high maintenance commodity also requiring costly special handling on the vessel. "CSC has developed a better way to move frozen goods through an innovative use of cryogenic technology in the Cryo-Power container." These are non-mechanical, requiring no outside power source, maintenance or monitoring, thus allowing transport on all forms of conveyance designed to move ocean freight containers. "This shipping flexibility allows for lower rates of carriage for the containers and thus to the shippers of the cargo." Stephen C Fulton, president of Oregon, USA-based, CSC, says: "We feel the combination of the GoReefers logistics services with unique operating characteristics of the Cryo-Power cryogenic reefer container will place both companies in a position to offer an unmatched service to shippers of frozen goods and a unique shipping option for the customer."