After years of fleet capacity meltdown caused by competition between container lines, specialised reefer operators face pressure to renew outdated tonnage to stop market share erosion. However, fragmented freight and chartering requirements must be consolidated to boost reefer ship development and newbuilding contracting, delegates at Rotterdam's Cool Logistics Global heard last week. The next generation of vessels would have to be larger than today's biggest units - with stowage capacities of about 600,000ft3 - to be competitive on a per-unit basis with container vessels, an executive of the world's fourth-largest banana trader, Bonita Banana, said.
展开▼
