Shipping company Maersk has reported that the container ship Maersk Saltoro, which sailed on December 27 from San Antonio (Chile) with more than 1,300 containers of cherries to China (where it should have arrived on January 15), arrived on February 17 at the port of Nansha, terminal GZ Oceangate, a little after 9 am (destination time), as can be consulted on the maritime portal VesselFinder.com. The containers of the Maersk Saltoro "are currently being unloaded from the ship, a process that will last until 1 am," stated Agustín Cornejo, general manager of the QC FRUIT company, who is on-site advising Chilean exporters who have asked him to inspect the containers in detail.
Source: VesselFinder.
China's health authorities, together with customs officials of that country, will define whether the cherries (and in much smaller quantities, blueberries, and stone fruit) that arrived at the port are suitable for sale or if they should be destroyed, with all the cost overruns that this implies. For much of the day, the cargo will remain at the port of Nansha awaiting instructions.
"Customs have already checked two containers at random. They found high levels of rot in one and high levels of splitting in the other. They sent samples of both containers to a laboratory where phytosanitary technicians are going to give their opinion on the fruit and, based on that, decide what to do with it. Customs work is at a standstill at the moment awaiting information on whether they should continue inspecting more containers and whether they should wait for the results of the analysis of the samples from these two containers that were sent to the laboratory," Cornejo added.
Until last Friday, it had been reported that the vessel would arrive at Nansha port, GZ Oceangate terminal, on Sunday, February 16 at 4:00 pm. However, Maersk rescheduled its arrival for Monday, February 17 at 9:00 am (destination time). The ship will depart with new cargo to Hong Kong on February 18 at 6:00 am, where it should arrive at 00:30 on Thursday, February 20.
The Maersk Saltoro arrived in China more than a month late. What should have been an efficient and scheduled crossing to supply the Chinese market with more than 1,300 containers of fresh cherries turned into an unprecedented logistical problem. For Chilean exporters, this delay represents a risk of millions in losses. The cargo, valued at more than 110 million dollars, spent more than 50 days at sea, an unusually long time for a perishable product such as cherries, even though the shipping company claims to have maintained refrigeration at all times.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the main engine failure on January 13. The findings of this investigation will be key to determining liability and possible insurance claims by exporters and the shipping line itself.
Source: lmneuquen.com