Maersk expands cold chain options for fresh fruit from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean to Central Russia

COPENHAGEN: On the 21st of December 2020, the first refrigerated containers heading from Mersin, Turkey, were dispatched from the port of Novorossiysk enroute to terminal Selyatino in Moscow on a train operated by Ruscon (part of Delo Group) -one of the Russia´s leading container transportation companies.

Two days later, the containers arrived at Selyatino terminal in Moscow and were safely delivered to the end-consignees.

In the past, imported containers were either delivered by road or stripped in Novorossiysk and then carried on to inland locations by van trucks. This was the first time A. P. Moller-Maersk pioneered end-to-end delivery of fresh fruit from the Eastern Mediterranean to Moscow by rail and in the same containers as they had been discharged in Russian port, said, Zsolt Katona, Managing Director Maersk Eastern Europe.

This new intermodal cold chain solution is enabled by Russian Railways JSC who provides rail infrastructure and commercial support for this new cold chain corridor.

Reefer specialists Polar Star LTD provides the power supply for containers throughout the rail journey.

Maersk’s new logistics solution is designed to grow the Russian food market through improved supply chain performance and less handling of perishable fruit.

“We see steadily growing demand from our customers for fruits and vegetables throughout the year.

So, we endeavor to provide the best possible quality of fresh items in our shops across Russia. Launch a direct rail product for delivery from port of Novorossiysk to Moscow will substantially enhance availability and freshness of imported fruit on our shelves, especially when offer from local suppliers are limited by seasonal factors,” said Yulia Krymova, Director of Fruit & Vegetable department of Magnet retail chain.

“We aim at offering Magnet and all our customers fixed departure/arrival and transit times, fully secure transportation, reefer monitoring goods condition throughout the journey using our RCM (Reefer Container Management) at a competitive and predictable price,” Zsolt Katona,  Managing Director Maersk Eastern Europe, added.

Maersk expects this new intermodal service will transform the refrigerated cold chain from the Middle East and the Mediterranean to Central Russia, representing over 50.000 containers a year.