Up until a few years ago it wasn't possible to transport bananas from growers in Ecuador to consumers in Azerbaijan any way other than by air. But then the cooling ships 'Star Cool Controlled Atmosphere' (CA) from MCI arrived. A new animation film that can be viewed here: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/63464-maersk-star-cool-reefer-film, explains the simple and affordable technology behind it.
The banana producers soon noticed that the possible travel time increased from 20 to 45 days with the cooling ships. This suddenly meant that bananas from Mozambique could be sold to Europe and Asia and Star Cool made it possible for exporters in Ecuador to sell their bananas in Azerbaijan.
Four years later, there are now over 25,000 Star Cool CA cooling containers travelling around Asia and Europe. The animation shows not only the transport of bananas and avocados, but also the transport of more fragile fruit and vegetables such as asparagus and mangos.
Star Cool's success story is based on a simple, patented design. During the transport the airing processes of the products use up the oxygen in the container and Star Cool controls this process by using a membrane filter. The filter efficiently releases the excess CO2, which could have lead to damage in some cases if not controlled properly.