Maersk links Chilean produce to Wilmington cold chain

Maersk has completed an integrated Chilean grape season through the Port of Wilmington, combining ocean transport, destination fumigation, cold storage, terminal handling, and inland delivery within one cold-chain operation.

The service was developed with produce supplier Oppy and North Carolina Ports to address limited treatment capacity for regulated fresh produce entering the US East Coast. Weekly sailings moved Chilean grapes through Wilmington during the 2026 season.

New on-terminal capabilities allow imported produce to undergo fumigation close to the berth before entering cold storage or onward distribution. The infrastructure can also support blueberries, asparagus, citrus, and other commodities requiring treatment before release into the domestic market.

Placing the treatment process within the port reduces the distance and number of handovers between vessel discharge and regulatory clearance. An off-site facility can require additional trucking, appointment coordination, and temperature-managed transfer before the cargo is available for distribution.

Le Harlin, head of growth enablement — cold chain at Maersk North America, said: “By combining destination fumigation with integrated cold chain services, we were able to help create a more efficient flow from origin to market while maintaining the reliability that fresh produce supply chains demand.”

The operation begins well before the container reaches the United States. Grapes must be harvested, cooled, packed, inspected, consolidated, and delivered to the Chilean export terminal under conditions that preserve quality and prevent unnecessary temperature gain.

Ocean schedules, reefer settings, atmosphere management, documentation, and treatment requirements must remain aligned during the voyage. A delay at origin or incorrect packout can reduce the available shelf life before the cargo reaches the destination treatment stage.

Fumigation adds a controlled but time-sensitive process after discharge. Treatment must satisfy plant-health requirements without unnecessarily damaging the produce, while the terminal, inspection authorities, treatment provider, carrier, cold store, customs agents, and inland hauliers coordinate the release sequence.

Reefer containers awaiting treatment continue to occupy plugs and yard positions, so treatment capacity affects terminal performance as well as product quality. A shortage of available slots can extend dwell and create congestion during the narrow peak of a harvest season.

Integrated control allows Maersk to coordinate the origin operation, vessel capacity, destination handling, storage, and final movement rather than relying on separately contracted providers at each stage. Fewer commercial handovers can simplify responsibility when a delay or quality issue occurs.

That concentration also places greater dependence on the integrated provider’s systems and contingency arrangements. Inventory status, container temperature, treatment progress, customs release, and delivery scheduling must remain visible if the operation is to avoid replacing several disconnected providers with one opaque process.

Fresh-produce logistics is governed by remaining shelf life rather than transport speed alone. A slightly longer but predictable journey can support better retail planning than a faster service with wide variability, because importers must organise quality inspection, ripening, labour, promotions, and distribution-centre appointments.

Temperature exposure must be controlled through every handover, not solely during the ocean leg. Loading bays, inspections, treatment, unloading, cold storage, and final road delivery all create potential excursions outside the reefer container’s monitored environment.

Extreme heat is already placing additional pressure on food cold chains, particularly where vehicle refrigeration, loading-bay exposure, warehouse cooling, and electricity supply are under strain. Port-side integration can shorten some transfers, but equipment and labour still have to maintain control throughout the sequence.

Wilmington gives the service access to consumer and distribution markets across the south-eastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. Shorter inland routes to those regions can reduce road mileage compared with more distant gateways, provided collection and delivery schedules remain aligned with terminal release.

The operation also strengthens North Carolina Ports’ position in refrigerated cargo. Reefer plugs alone do not create a viable produce gateway; inspection, fumigation, cold storage, rapid gate processes, specialist hauliers, and dependable documentation are equally necessary.

An additional US entry point reduces dependence on a small number of established ports. Cargo can be redirected when congestion, labour disruption, weather, or treatment constraints affect another gateway, although dividing seasonal volume between several ports can complicate forecasting and inventory allocation.

Extending the model beyond grapes will require operating procedures suited to different temperatures, packaging, harvest periods, treatment protocols, and customer channels. Shared infrastructure becomes more economical when several compatible commodities create a longer operating season.

Seasonality remains a central commercial challenge because treatment equipment, cold rooms, and trained labour must be available during intense peaks while carrying lower utilisation at other times. A broader produce portfolio can improve asset use without removing the need to scale labour and transport rapidly during harvest periods.

The completed grape season demonstrates that Wilmington can combine treatment, cold storage, and terminal operations around a scheduled ocean service. Repeat performance across subsequent seasons and commodities will be measured through release time, product condition, rejected loads, transport cost, and continued shipper use.