Mersin, Turkey: Maersk is expanding its cold chain services for fresh fruit from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean to Central Russia.
The service combines existing short sea and deep-sea connections from Turkey, Egypt and Israel to the port of Novorossiysk with the regular intermodal service between Novorossiysk and Moscow.
In December last year the first refrigerated containers heading from Mersin, Turkey, were dispatched from the port of Novorossiysk en-route to terminal Selyatino in Moscow on a train operated by Ruscon (part of Delo Group) – a Russian container transport company. Two days later, the containers arrived at Selyatino terminal in Moscow and were delivered to the end-consignees.
Russian Railways JSC runs the new intermodal cold chain service and provides rail infrastructure and commercial support for this new cold chain corridor. Reefer company Polar Star provides the power supply for containers throughout the rail journey.
Maersk’s new logistics service is designed to grow the Russian food market through improved supply chain performance and less handling of perishable fruit.
Yulia Krymova, director of the fruit and vegetable department at Magnet retail chain, said: “We see steadily growing demand from our customers for fruits and vegetables throughout the year. The launch of a direct rail product for delivery from the port of Novorossiysk to Moscow will substantially enhance availability and freshness of imported fruit on our shelves, especially when when offers from local suppliers are limited by seasonal factors.”
