Cargo Business Newswire

Friday, January 31, 2014

Top Story

Maersk Container Industry devises new air cleaning tech for reefers

Maersk Container Industry is partnering with Boston-based technology company Primaira to develop an air cleaning system in Star Cool Integrated refrigerated containers, according to an MCI statement. The company said the new system could increase the geographical reach of fruit and produce shipped via container.

MCI's new patented technology, Bluezone®, eliminates molds, fungi and bacteria, the statement said. Using an ozone concentration 300 times higher than typical, the new system also removes ethylene.

"We are still working on the final design, but we are convinced that the Bluezone and Star Cool combination represents economic and environmental upsides so far unseen in container transportation," reports Soren Leth Johannsen, chief commercial officer of MCI.

The company says Bluezone may be a modal game changer for perishable cargo. Fresh-cut flowers, for example, are a $14 billion market globally, and currently more than 90 percent of the intercontinental shipments are by air.

"The years of exacting, scientific work demonstrate the superiority of the Bluezone technology in ethylene and mold removal and value in extending the shelf life of fresh produce," says Karen Benedek, managing partner of Primaira, which specializes in developing technologies that enhance food quality.

Clyde Wingate, director of refrigeration services at Seaboard Marine, said his shippers are becoming more exacting about cargo quality preservation.

"If MCI really can manage to develop a system with high concentration of ozone in a concealed chamber, then I'm confident that both shippers and container lines will be very adaptive," says Wingate.

Bluezone in Star Cool will be available in second half of 2014, according to MCI.