The good old days, when fruit from overseas came into Rotterdam harbour as conventional shipment, are long gone. The advent of refrigerated or reefer containers has changed the look of the port dramatically. Containers with fresh produce are now transferred to inland barges, shipping the TEU’s in great numbers to countless destinations. Rotterdam Fruit Wharf is one of the sites handling this procedure. Fred Krijnen of SEA-Invest explains the benefits of reefer container transport.
“Our business policy used to be focused on handling conventional shipments of fruit,” he says, “but now everything is different. Today, fresh produce enters the harbour in reefers. What we do is, we offer a service that transfers 
these containers onto barges, allowing for a more controlled distribution. It’s now possible to inspect the cargo, check the quality of the fruit and to store it for longer periods of time.”
these containers onto barges, allowing for a more controlled distribution. It’s now possible to inspect the cargo, check the quality of the fruit and to store it for longer periods of time.”Krijnen stresses that the use of ‘cool barge’ doesn’t necessarily lead to faster distribution. “The service isn’t really faster, the benefit is in the number of containers to be processed in one go. This saves the customer a lot of red tape, transport is cheaper and more friendly to the environment. Also, our storage capacity is huge.”
This process of course, makes a location near the water vital. It sidesteps busy roads, especially the congestion around Rotterdam itself, and leads to a more efficient transhipment. “Fortunately, the large terminals are starting to realise that reefer cargo is always in a hurry, and needs to be shipped to cool storage as fast as possible,” concludes Krijnen.