b'14American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comReefer ocean container businessGT USA Wilmington balances again in 2023 welcomes maiden call of Ed Treacy, vice president, supply chain and sustainability, for thethe MSC CAPUCINE RNewark-basedInternationalFreshProduceAssociation(IFPA)Vessel brings cargo of Chilean grapes to the Port saysthatunlikewhathappenedduringthepost-COVIDsurge,of Wilmington.containers and chassis are not the problem and freight rates areGT USA Wilmington (GTW) has welcomed the m/v MSC falling. But will demand pick up in September? CAPUCINE R to the Port of Wilmington for its maiden call of the winter fruit season.By Tad Thompson, AJOT The m/v MSC CAPUCINE R is a container vessel, built in 2001, she is 243.1 meters in length and 32.2 meters wide, with In 2020, the COVID pan- cant in the shortfall was portsduringthetwo-yearperioda carrying capacity of 3430 TEUs. Upon berthing GTW opera-demic hit produce ocean cargoshuttingdownandshipssit- ofhighrates.Investorsaretions began discharging her cargo of containerized grapes from big time. Fortunately, sinceting in a harbor for days wait- pressuring the lines to main- Chile. The containers were stripped immediately and, once reg-2023 rolled onto the calendar,ingtodischarge.Thattooktainsuchlevelsofprofit- ulatory approvals have been received, the cargo will be ready there has been a return to thefruitandcontainervolumesability. Decreasing containerfor pick up and distribution.freshproduceshippingnor- out of circulation and reducedcapacity will boost rates andFollowing a successful winter fruit season in 2022, where malcy of 2019. The ship hasshipping capacity.profits.Ihopethisdoesntthe Port handled around 130,000 pallets of grapes and other righted itself in terms of ratesLate this winter, shippingcontinue, Treacy notes.Chilean fruits, GTW is confident that they are well on track to and availability, which is alines facing short freight vol- Treacybelievesthattheexceed those figures in 2023.drastic turn from days whereumeswerecancelingroutesoverall shipping volume willJoe Cruise, Chief Executive Officer of GT USA Wilming-oceanratesdoubled,tripledwith as little as three or fourbegintopickupagainthiston and Robert Blackburn, Vice President, Commercial were and then in some cases wereweeksnoticetoexporters.Septembereveryonewantson hand to welcome the vessel and present its captain with a ten times the norm. Treacy explains that the ship- (BALANCEScontinued onplaque to mark the vessels first call of the season. We are EdTreacy,vicepresi- ping lines made $150 billionpage 16) (WELCOMEScontinued on page 18)dent, supply chain and sus-tainability, International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA), basedinNewark,DE,on March9thtoldAJOTthat, Containers and chassis areFUELED FOR THE FUTUREnolongerinshortage.The primaryshortagenowisinFROM JACKSONVILLE TO SANJUANvolumes. The lines increased capacitytocashinonthe exorbitantratesandIthink theworldinflationshowed overalldemandforproduct andthevolumedropped. Thebacklogscleared.And on-time deliveries, which are defined as within one day of schedule, are mostly back.Ed Treacy, VP, supply chain & sustainability, IFPATreacy notes that before COVID,theshippinglines wereontime75%ofthe time.IntheworstoftimesTOTE launched duringCOVID,therewerethe worlds first timely deliveries about 10%LNG-powered of the time, depending on thecontainership in 2015, shippinglineandshippingand we are proud to be a first lane.Sincethenewyear,mover in the maritime industrys thingshaveimprovedtoclean fuel revolution. about 60-65% on time. Ship- From our JAXPORT home on the St. ping lines admit they need toJohns River to the Caribbean waters of up that number to 90%.InLongBeachFeb.Puerto Rico and back, our vessels operate 27-March2,Treacywasusing the cleanest marine fuel available, a panelist at the TPM 23 -protecting the diverse marine life and waterways we theTrans-PacificMaritimetraverse. Conference. He says the shipping lines havelearnedalotinrecent years. They are keeping betterDEDICATED. RELIABLE. BUILT TO SERVE. 877.775.7447 TOTEMARITIME.COMpractices in place and not let-ting past failures happen again. Figuratively, Treacynotesthe shipping lines were trying to pour 25 pounds of fruit through a 15-pound funnel. They couldnt handlethevolume.Signifi-'