The Belgian New Fruit Wharf in Antwerp regrets the decision taken by Chiquita, to have its bananas unloaded in Vlissingen after 33 years. Johan Claes of BNFW responds to the statements made by Franklin Ginus, CEO of Chiquita Benelux, who explained the new situation earlier this week in a FreshPlaza article.
Johan begins: "The arguments mentioned by Franklin Ginus, in our view, can be summed up in one statement: In addition Kloosterboer has made an offer which our new owner could not turn down. Due to this it all went pretty fast and in a fairly short period of time the choice fell upon Vlissingen."
He responds to the other statements in more detail:
Franklin: "By changing ports and shortening the distance we can unload as much as four days faster."
Franklin: "By changing ports and shortening the distance we can unload as much as four days faster."
Response Johan: "It's a mystery to us how docking at Vlissingen can be 4 days faster when it takes just 4 to 5 hours less to sail to Vlissingen than to Antwerp (one way). Also, all in all the ship was at the BNFW docks between 36 hours and 48 hours tops to unload containers, unload lower deck pallets and load containers and break bulk.
Franklin: "In addition, the handling of loads in Vlissingen will be faster."
Response Johan: "BNFW Antwerp is generally known as the fastest harbour when it comes to loading and unloading. The automatic warehouse where Chiquita was handled, guarantees very quick handling and delivery."
Franklin: "Through more accurate arrivals we can add more value to the chain."
Response Johan: "The ETA (estimated time of arrival) of ships is known 4 to 5 days beforehand. This is no different for Vlissingen than for Antwerp. If there's a storm in Antwerp, there's also a storm in Vlissingen."
Franklin: "Not only the price played a role, but also the sustainable management of Kloosterboer, where the energy for the warehouse facilities is generated by wind turbines."
Response Johan: "The energy BNFW uses for cooling, lighting as well as all forklifts and pallet trucks is 100% green energy, with sustainable origin certificates."
Johan goes on: "Also noteworthy is that because of the move from Antwerp to Vlissingen, every week (based on Chiquita 2014 volumes) a great deal of trucks will have to drive many miles extra. A quick calculation shows that this rapidly leads to more than 1 million additional kilometres on the road. A sustainable solution? We accept the new owner's decision to change, but we'd prefer to hear the correct arguments from Franklin Ginus," he concludes.