The supply of fresh citrus fruits is one of the most important trade directions for domestic importers. As in the case with other types of general cargo, Odessa, Ilyichevsk and 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.Peculiarities of transshipment of citrus fruits. Requirements for the conditions of carriage.
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 No. 22 and No. 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 according to the direct scheme “ship-car”, “ship-car”.
2) Odessa port refrigerator. This terminal is one of the earliest on the territory of the port and was created specifically for handling perishable goods: transshipment of citrus, fruit and vegetable and frozen products (fish, meat). The terminal includes:
- cargo berth No. 21;
- 2 semi-portal cranes "GANZ" with a lifting capacity of 5 tons;
- section of the railway branch for loading 6 cars;
- car ramp 100 m long;
- warehouses with a capacity of 13,000 tons
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 No. 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. Transhipment of citrus fruits in Ilyichevsk carried out at the berths of the complex handling 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 productivity of the loading and unloading service 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 citrus fruits, refrigerated warehouses are equipped. Their one-time loading volume reaches 5000 tons.
The infrastructure, storage and production facilities of the Black Sea Fishing Port continue to develop and improve to this day. So in June 2020, the reconstruction of the pontoon berth was carried out, where the unloading of rollers is performed.
Transhipment sea terminal TTG "Forward" has a developed transport infrastructure for transshipment of citrus in Chornomorsk. Berth No. 22, along with other general cargo, is capable of accepting palletized and packed in big bags citrus fruits. Unloading is performed in specially equipped long-term storage warehouses for perishable goods. Depending on the task, PPR can be performed according to flow charts for ship-car or ship-wagon schemes.
Peculiarities of transshipment of citrus fruits. Requirements for conditions of carriage
Often, large consignments transported in the holds of refrigerated ships are loaded into synthetic big bags. But this method is convenient only if at the port of destination the cargo will be placed in a long-term storage warehouse for chilled products. If there are no warehouses, and loading onto a truck trailer or flat car is foreseen, citrus fruits are transported in 20 and 40-foot sea refrigerated containers.
How big bags are loaded into the hold of a refrigerated ship
The interdeck height in refrigerated vessels is usually 2.2 m. Therefore, cargo packed in big bags is placed only in the 1st tier. Due to swaying during transportation, loaded bags can easily shift and skew under the weight of the contents. By pressing on the neighboring ones, they will increase the displacement of the center of gravity in the hold, and excessive heel is definitely dangerous for the vessel.In order to avoid cargo shifting 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. For this, 2 rows of 2 bags, placed at an equal distance from each other and from the side walls, are fastened with belts to the chains stretched under the deck bulkhead. The chains are tensioned 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. Single chain and brackets with shackles are tested to a breaking load of 20 tons.
How to store and store a cargo of citrus fruits in refrigerated containers
Like any other palletized cargo, citrus fruits, loaded on pallets, are placed in containers symmetrically in the longitudinal and transverse planes. The weight should be evenly distributed over the area, with the center of gravity in the middle of the container. Usually the pallets are shifted towards the side walls. So that individual pallets move and do not fall on top of 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:
- AFAM/(Advanced Air Fresh Management)
- AFAM+
- TRANSFRESH
- EVERFRESH
- StarCare
- StarFresh
Recommended temperature and humidity conditions
Optimal storage during transportation requires an air humidity of 85-95%. In the cargo hold or closed container The temperature regime for each type of fruit is different:- oranges - 4-6 ° C;
- grapefruit - 8-11 ° C;
- lemons - 6-8 ° C;
- tangerines - 2-4 ° C.
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