Shipping giant welcomes the first customer to its new coldstore in Rotterdam, which is designed to improve the speed and reliability of refrigerated supply chains
Maersk has announced the completion of a state-of-the-art coldstore in Rotterdam, which it said marks the latest addition to its network of owned and leased specialised warehouses.
Less than a year-and-a-half after the official ground-breaking and start of construction, Maersk has welcomed the first fresh grapes from South African exporter Grape Alliance to the new Rotterdam facility.
“Our coldstore significantly improves the speed and reliability in refrigerated supply chains, and hence the quality of temperature sensitive and frozen products on their way to European consumers,” said Ole Trumpfheller, managing director of Maersk area North Europe continent.
The newly opened 35,000m2 facility is located right next to one of Europe’s most modern terminals at Maasvlakte II, operated by the Maersk subsidiary APM Terminals.
”This guarantees seamless processes and optimal, friction free handling of reefer containers,” he noted. ”The proximity to the terminal allows us to offer more integrated and thus more resilient supply chain solutions right at our logistics hub in Rotterdam.”
The facility has a capacity of more than 34,000 pallet positions, making the coldstore a ”key component” of Maersk’s integrated reefer and cold chain logistics offering for pharmaceuticals, fruits, meat or fish in Northwest Europe.
Furthermore, the empty reefer equipment can be returned in Maersk’s owned and newly-expanded Star Depot next to the coldstore, Maersk said, reducing potential additional demurrage and detention costs for customers.
