The Maersk-chartered container ship Saltoro has finally completed repairs after 23 days adrift due to the failure of its main engine. The vessel, which departed from the Chilean port of San Antonio on December 27 with 1,353 refrigerated containers of cherries on board, has resumed its voyage to the Chinese port of Nansha.
The Maersk Saltoro is scheduled to arrive at its destination on February 17, subject to travel conditions. According to the Danish shipping company, the containers are connected to the ship's power and are fully operational.
According to the president of the National Agricultural Society, Antonio Walker, the Maersk Saltoro is transporting an important volume of cherries from three regions of southern Chile.
The Saltoro was one of the 25 container ships of the Cherry Express services that connect Chile directly with China to bring this fruit to be marketed during the Lunar New Year, celebrated on January 29. Therefore, the cherries transported by the Maersk Saltoro will arrive outside this profitable commercial window.
So far, producer and exporter guilds have not commented on the effects of this incident, nor have they made an economic quantification of the contract breaches caused by the late arrival of the fruit, which will only be eligible for the late market, which could imply monetary losses.
Source: portalportuario.cl