The Port of Wilmington has welcomed the first breakbulk shipment of winter fruit from Chile for the 2013/14 season. The Coral Mermaid, operated by Global Reefers, arrived at the port on Wednesday carrying 756,000 cartons of cherries, blueberries, stonefruit and table grapes.
Wilmington is a major port of entry and distribution centre for Chilean fruit. This season it expects to receive at least 25 shiploads of fruit from the Chilean ports of Valparaíso, Coquimbo and Caldera.
Newly formed Global Reefers, a joint venture of Pacific Seaways and Seatrade, is the sole shipping line providing an express service direct from Chile to the Port of Wilmington.
“The arrival of the Coral Mermaid marks the fourth year in a row that Wilmington has had the opportunity to optimally support of Chilean partners’ and our local customers’ commercial interests by enabling them to be the ‘first to market’ with the freshest fruit for this holiday season,” said Gene Bailey, the port’s executive director.
The Chilean fruit season runs from December through April, satisfying consumer demand in North America for fresh fruit during the winter months. “We are very pleased and excited that Wilmington and Global Reefers are ‘first on the river’ for the Chilean season,” said John Coulahan, president of Pacific Delaware. “Everyone is hoping for a good season and we welcome the Coral Mermaid to the port.”
The cargo will be stored at the port’s 800,000ft2 on-dock refrigerated warehouse complex, North America’s largest, before distribution throughout Canada and the eastern US. The port handled nearly 18m cartons of Chilean fruit in 2012/13, a 22 per cent increase over the previous season. The trade supports over 900 jobs and generates US$49.5m a year in personal income, US$52.8m in business revenue and US$4.9m in tax revenue for the state and region.
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