Maersk Container Industry (MCI) has produced its Star Cool refrigerated container number 100,000, reflecting unabated demand for frozen and chilled foods and an acute need for energy savings in global transportation.
Star Cool number 50,000 came off the production line for Hanjin Shipping just over a year ago.
“Our focus on energy savings was clearly the right way to go,” said Soren Leth Johannsen, chief commercial officer at MCI. “Bunker fuel prices have more than doubled since 2005 so we can help customers offset part of the additional bunker cost.”
Jan Esbech, a key customer and global head of equipment at Maersk Line, said, “At the moment, Star Cool has the best combination of price, energy efficiency, and maintenance. We are not at all surprised that Star Cool number 100,000 has been produced. We know this is to a large degree attributable to the innovation and technological development that takes place at MCI.”
The leasing company CAI International is also happy.
“CAI has during the last years successfully expanded its fleet of Star Cool units, and by now we are so confident in the market acceptance that we recently placed an order for 500 Integrated Star Cool units on speculation,” said Danny Hallahan, senior vice-president, global marketing, CAI International.
At Tinglev, Denmark, MCI continues its research and development.
“We have more innovation on the way to make global trade ever more efficient. MCI’s controlled atmosphere, for example, now lets customers increase transportation time in some cases from 30 to 45 days without compromising quality,” said Johannsen.
MCI has 6,000 employees worldwide and is headquartered in Tinglev, home to global sales and R&D. Production takes place at factories in Qingdao, Dongguan, and Huidong, China—and by 2014, in San Antonio, Chile.
In 2011, MCI constructed 41,000 reefer containers, 37,000 reefer units, and 200,000 TEU dry containers.The company is a business unit in the A P Moller–Maersk Group.
For more information, go to www.maersk.com.
