Rotterdam’s new Kloosterboer Cool Port facility has taken delivery of its first containers of fruit, marking the official opening of a new logistics hub for fresh produce in the Dutch port city.
The consignment, which consisted of pallets of fresh pomegranates imported by Total Produce BV, arrived at the nearby Maasvlakte container terminal on an MSC vessel before being transported by barge from the Kramer Home Terminal to Cool Port for landing, control and storage.
The new centre offers a range of sea, rail and road connections for importers and exporters, and boasts storage capacity of around 40,000 pallets – 30,000 in coldstorage and 10,000 in deep-freeze – as well as a number of ripening rooms.
On the ground floor, there is a 7,500m2 expedition area featuring 38 dock shelters, while on the first floor there is a facility for packing and unpacking that was designed specifically for the handling of fruit and vegetables
“The Cool Port project is an innovative, logistics solution which incorporates barging, automated process management and information provision in the supply chain,” Kloosterboer chief executive Jaco Hooij told reporters, describing the project as a “big step forward” for the company.
“The location has proved attractive and we can already conclude that Cool Port is a great success. Even before the doors were opened 80 per cent of the storage space had already been reserved resulting in the need for and reality of Cool Port II growing one step closer.”
Rotterdam-based Total Produce BV has committed its future to the Cool Port project by outsourcing its logistics to Kloosterboer.
“Following a long period of preparation and intensive cooperation with Kloosterboer Cool Port, last week we reached an important milestone when Cool Port Rotterdam received our consignment - the very first to pass through its doors,” commented the company’s managing director Michel Jansen.
“The entire team here at Total Produce Rotterdam is now looking forward to seeing the volume of our goods handled at Cool Port continue to rise as well as taking full advantage of all the possibilities that this unique location has to offer.”
'The opening of Cool Port represents yet another valuable expansion of the temperature controlled activities and logistics in Rotterdam's port,” said Emile Hoogsteden, Managing Director of Containers, Breakbulk & Logistics, Port of Rotterdam.
“This new coldstorage facility forms part of the former City Terminal site which is being developed into an efficient and compact multimodal distribution centre for short sea shipping, inland shipping, rail and road transport. We wish Kloosterboer the very best of luck at this fantastic new location.”
