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Peculiarities of citrus fruits transshipment. Requirements for conditions of carriage

The supply of fresh citrus fruits is one of the most important areas of trade for domestic importers. As in the case of other types of general cargo, Odessa, Kherson hold the leading positions among ukrainian seaports for transshipment of oranges, lemons and other varieties of citrus fruits. Their berths handle cargo supplied from Georgia, Turkey, Egypt and Spain - traditional exporters of this type of product.



The current state of the transshipment infrastructure of commercial ports
 

At the moment, the infrastructure of fruit and vegetable terminals on the Black Sea coast of Ukraine is represented by:

1. Berths № 22 and № 23 on the territory of the Odessa port. The total length of their coastal edge is 390 m. The berths are designed for anchorage of vessels with a length of up to 200 m and a draft of up to 9.3 m. The transshipment is carried out in a straight line “ship-car”, “ship-wagon”.
2. Odessa port refrigerator. This terminal is one of the earliest on the territory of the port and was created specifically for perishable goods: citruses, fruits, vegetables and frozen products (fish, meat).

 
The terminal includes:

• cargo berth № 21;
• 2 semi-portal cranes "GANZ" with a lifting capacity of 5 tons;
• section of the railway line for loading 6 wagons;
• 100 m long car ramp;
• warehouses with a capacity of 13,000 tons

 
In addition to frozen products and agricultural products, packaged cargo of metal and lumber is accepted on the territory of the refrigeration port. There are warehouses of universal products with a total area of 4000 sq.m. for their storage.
 
According to the latest data, voiced by representatives of the State Enterprise "Administration of the Seaports of Ukraine", the annual transshipment of citrus fruits at berth № 21 in total is about 40-60 thousand tons. The main cargo traffic falls on the period from October to March.
 

3. Black Sea fishing port. The citrus transshipment in the port "Chornomorsk" is carried out at the berths of the complex, which tranships general cargo. Vessels are moored for unloading at 1 of 3 berths with a total length of more than 300 m. Mechanization of loading and unloading operations is provided by portal cranes with a lifting capacity of 3.2 to 6 tons. The capacity of loading and unloading operations (LUO) varies from 800 to 2000 tons per day.

 
Since 2000, a warehouse complex for long-term storage of bananas and citrus fruits has been put into operation at the fishport. For the intermediate transshipment of lemons, oranges and other varieties of such fruits, refrigerated warehouses are equipped with a one-time loading volume of 5000 tons.
 
The infrastructure, storage and production facilities of the Black Sea fishing port continue to develop and improve to this day. So, for example, the reconstruction of the pontoon berth, on which the unloading of rollers is performed, was carried out in June 2020.
 
The transshipment sea terminal "TTG Forward" has a developed transport infrastructure for transshipment of citrus fruits in the port "Chornomorsk". Berth № 22, along with other general cargo, is capable of accepting palletized and packed in big bags citrus fruits. Unloading is carried out in specially equipped long-term storage warehouses for perishable goods. Depending on the task, LUO can be performed according to flow charts for "ship-car" or "ship-wagon" schemes.

Features of citrus fruits transshipment

Large consignments of fruits transported in the holds of refrigerated ships are often loaded into synthetic big bags. However, this method is convenient only when, at the port of destination, the transported cargo will be placed in a long-term storage warehouse for chilled products. If there are no storage facilities, and loading onto a truck trailer or wagon platform is foreseen, citrus fruits are transported in 20 and 40-foot refrigerated sea containers.
 

How are big bags loaded into the hold of a refrigerated ship?

The interdeck height in refrigerated vessels is usually 2.2 m, so the cargo packed in big bags is placed only on the 1st tier. Due to swaying during transportation, loaded bags can easily shift and warp under the weight of the contents. By pressing on the adjacent "containers", they will increase the displacement of the center of gravity in the hold, which is very dangerous for the ship.
 
In order to avoid displacement of the cargo to the starboard or port side, when transporting citrus fruits in big bags, several rows of bags are fixed so as to create longitudinal stiffeners. To do this, 2 rows of 2 bags, placed at an equal distance from each other and from the side walls, are fastened with straps to the chains stretched under the deck bulkhead. The chains themselves are stretched at a distance of about 5 m from each other.
 
It is also possible to fix the big bags in the longitudinal rows by attaching the straps to the D-shaped brackets located under the deck overlap. A single chain and brackets with brackets are pre-tested for breaking load, the indicator of which is 20 tons.
 

How is a cargo of citrus fruits placed and stored in refrigerated containers?

As any other palletized cargo, citrus fruits, loaded on pallets, are placed in containers symmetrically along the longitudinal and transverse planes. The weight should be distributed evenly over the area of ​​the entire container, and the center of gravity should fall on the middle part of it.
 
To prevent individual pallets from shifting and not toppling over each other during sudden jolts or rolling, a gasket from a pneumatic casing is installed between them.
 
The following types of refrigerated containers are used for the transportation of citrus:
 

• АFAM/(Advanced Air Fresh Management);
• АFAM+;
• ТRANSFRESH;
• ЕVERFRESH;
• StarCare;
• StarFresh.

 
Automatic air conditioning systems for such refrigerators provide for not only maintaining the cold, but also heating the contents of the container, depending on changing weather conditions. In addition, container control systems regulate humidity levels and maintain an optimal CO2/O2 ratio.
 

Recommended temperature and humidity conditions 

The optimal storage regime during the transportation of citrus fruits provides for air humidity in the range of 85-95%.
 
As for the temperature regime, each type of fruit has its own:
 

• oranges - 4-6°C;
• grapefruits - 8-11°C;
• lemons - 6-8°C;
• tangerines - 2-4°C.