Seatrade USA plays an important role in fresh produce along the seaport facilities of the Delaware River.

Howard Posner, general manager of Seatrade USA in Tampa, discussed these roles and noted a new refrigerated steamship design that will benefit the produce industry in years to come.

The new design will be able to carry the equivalent of 12,000 pallets in refrigerated containers both on deck and underdeck through the use of a unique water cooling system. A standard container vessel cannot do this, as it does not have the ventilation capacity underdeck. The ships are under construction by the Yangfan Group in Zhoushan, China. They are scheduled for launch in January 2016.

The two ships are representative of a larger new-building program of ships of similar size and capacity.

“These are the first of what are expected to be quite a few” ships of the type specifically serving refrigerated cargo, Posner said.

The ships are cost-effective and are designed for maximum efficiency in fuel consumption, speed, dead weight and other critical characteristics. “Over the past decade, Seatrade’s vessel portfolio has evolved to include bigger ships with even greater on-deck container capacity. There are a number of ships in the current pool with capacity for upwards of 200 reefer containers on deck.

The new ships will carry refrigerated containers instead of break bulk pallets. But unlike traditional container ships, these will be dedicated to direct port-to-port refrigerated services, such as carrying fruit on regular routes from New Zealand or Chile — or bananas to northern markets. “This will not be a hub-and-spoke service. That defeats the purpose” of Seatrade’s service philosophy. Seatrade utilizes the expression “Fast, Direct and Dedicated” to reflect its routes.

“Our intent is to grow a fleet of these new ships but we will not completely abandon reefer (break bulk) ships either. We are always in the market to buy younger reefers, have recently modified some newer tonnage to increase capacity for containers by adding sections, and the company is presently exploring new buildings of custom-designed deep freezer vessels for carriage of fish.” He added that much of the existing Seatrade fleet of conventional reefer ships should still be in service for upwards of another 15-20 years.

As to existing service to the ports of the Delaware River, Posner said the company and its various partners are making close to 200 vessel calls to the region annually. Seatrade is working closely with partners in Chile to maintain high levels of customer service and improve efficiencies. In late 2013, Seatrade announced a merger with Pacific Seaways, which resulted in the formation of Global Reefers and its USA common carrier arm, Trans Global Shipping. The Chilean service utilizes the port of Wilmington, DE, as an East Coast hub, as well as sharing space on vessels calling into the Gloucester Marine Terminal in Gloucester City, NJ.

In other service to the Delaware River, Seatrade is in the first year of a two-year contract with South African citrus exporters to call upon the Gloucester Terminal.

Seatrade has for many years carried Moroccan clementines to the port of Wilmington. Problems in Russia and other international markets should increase Moroccan clementine exports to the United States via Wilmington, Posner noted. Seatrade ships also call on New Bedford, MA, with Moroccan clementines. Seatrade has started a cold treatment service aboard its reefer ships for fruit to be marketed in the United States. Fruit for Canada does not require the cold treatment process.

For many years, Seatrade has handled the Citruship Spanish clementine program into the Gloucester Terminal.

Argentine deciduous fruit deliveries by Seatrade to Wilmington and Gloucester “have been ongoing for many years,” Posner said. Argentine apple juice is brought by Seatrade to Wilmington.

Seatrade vessels carry Del Monte bananas to Gloucester and Turbana bananas to Philadelphia’s Pier 82.

Posner’s offices serve as more than representatives for Seatrade. Posner explained that Seatrade USA is a trade name under which his North American General Agents Inc. (with offices in Tampa and the Philadelphia area) represents Seatrade. The company is a full-service ship agency representing a number of international accounts in addition to serving as vessel brokers and third-party logistics providers. In 2011 North American General Agents Inc. became the exclusive U.S. East Coast representative member of the World Wide Shipagencies Association. The WWSA was established in September 2007, when several ship agents took the initiative to create WWSA — a registered Antwerp, Belgium-based nonprofit association — to heighten the efficiency of their trade service.