Big benefits will accrue for exporters in rural areas
PRODUCERS OF perishable products, particularly those in rural areas who have to transport their produce over long distances to the nearest shipping depot, have welcomed the decision by Safmarine & CMBT Lines (SCL) to provide the reefer market with a new, sophisticated range of generating sets (gensets).
"Integral containers have the cooling machinery built in, powered by electricity, and are therefore self-sustainable. However, if a container is packed inland and the transport time exceeds approximately two hours, then the container needs to be placed under cooling," explains Tony Nicholas, operations manager. "Gensets provide the electrical power required to run the integral container and ensure that the cold chain is maintained."
Gensets are essentially diesel generators specially designed to clip on to the back of integral containers to provide electrical pwer to the reefer machinery. The genset will operate for up to seven days without refuelling, using less than three litres of fuel per hour.
"By using a genset, exporters in rural areas can pack cargo into the shipping container at source. They no longer have to transport the cargo in refrigerated vehicles and repack into containers closer to the port. Not only is this a convenient cost saving, but additional handling of the produce is eliminated. More importantly, the cold chain is maintained all the way from source through to delivery."
Forty genset units are available in addition to SCL's range of integral reefer containers. These gensets, built by Thermo King in the USA, will be available to SA exporters on all trades.
