The “Polarstern” was equipped with the most cutting-edge automated cooling equipment of its day. However, the real attention grabber during the photo session on its maiden voyage were two king penguins.
Bananas about cold transports
With Remote Container Management (RCM), Hamburg Süd offers its customers the latest state-of-the-art reefer technology. But the company already started transporting temperature-sensitive goods from South America to Europe around 120 years ago.
It was in 1900 that the “Cap Roca” first steamed across the Atlantic to Europe carrying a few clusters of bananas in a small cold store. At the time, this fruit was still a luxury good in Europe. However, around 30 years later, demand for fruit from South America had already risen so sharply that more Cap-class cargo and passenger steamers were partially converted for refrigerated transport. In the 1950s, Cap-class ships were deployed for the express service between Europe and South America. These vessels boasted cold storage rooms with a loading volume of 150,000 cubic feet – this is equivalent to a volume of 63 of today’s 40' high cube reefer containers.
Beginning in 1961, Hamburg Süd also used the legendary Cap San ships for refrigerated transports. The series of six newbuildings were nicknamed the “white swans of the South Atlantic” on account of their particularly elegant lines. But what really made these vessels exceptional were their cold storage rooms with a combined volume of 250,000 cubic feet – an enormous size for that time. Depending on the cargo, the temperature in these compartments could be individually adjusted to between –20 and +15 degrees Celsius (ca. –4 and +60 degrees Fahrenheit).
As from 1964, Hamburg Süd further expanded its transport capacities for temperature-sensitive cargo with the “Polarlicht” and the “Polarstern.” With six additional Polar-class newbuildings in 1967, it finally rose to become the European shipping company with the largest refrigerated hold capacity. The first refrigerated containers arrived in the late 1960s. Hamburg Süd’s first fully containerized ship, the “Columbus New Zealand,” set new international standards for reefer transports when it entered into service in 1971. With slots for 553 refrigerated containers, the ship could transport almost 300,000 boxes of bananas across the Atlantic – or twelve times as many as the “Cap Arcona” once could.
In addition to demand for refrigerated transports, the related quality requirements have also steadily increased over the decades. Today, innovative technologies, such as Controlled Atmosphere (CA), ensure that the conditions in refrigerated containers precisely correspond to the requirements of the respective cargo. In addition to being monitored and documented, all data will soon also be accessible in real time during transport thanks to Remote Container Management (RCM). This development was of course unforeseeable around 120 years ago, when Hamburg Süd first entered refrigerated shipping with the “Cap Roca.”
It was in 1900 that the “Cap Roca” first steamed across the Atlantic to Europe carrying a few clusters of bananas in a small cold store. At the time, this fruit was still a luxury good in Europe. However, around 30 years later, demand for fruit from South America had already risen so sharply that more Cap-class cargo and passenger steamers were partially converted for refrigerated transport. In the 1950s, Cap-class ships were deployed for the express service between Europe and South America. These vessels boasted cold storage rooms with a loading volume of 150,000 cubic feet – this is equivalent to a volume of 63 of today’s 40' high cube reefer containers.
Beginning in 1961, Hamburg Süd also used the legendary Cap San ships for refrigerated transports. The series of six newbuildings were nicknamed the “white swans of the South Atlantic” on account of their particularly elegant lines. But what really made these vessels exceptional were their cold storage rooms with a combined volume of 250,000 cubic feet – an enormous size for that time. Depending on the cargo, the temperature in these compartments could be individually adjusted to between –20 and +15 degrees Celsius (ca. –4 and +60 degrees Fahrenheit).
As from 1964, Hamburg Süd further expanded its transport capacities for temperature-sensitive cargo with the “Polarlicht” and the “Polarstern.” With six additional Polar-class newbuildings in 1967, it finally rose to become the European shipping company with the largest refrigerated hold capacity. The first refrigerated containers arrived in the late 1960s. Hamburg Süd’s first fully containerized ship, the “Columbus New Zealand,” set new international standards for reefer transports when it entered into service in 1971. With slots for 553 refrigerated containers, the ship could transport almost 300,000 boxes of bananas across the Atlantic – or twelve times as many as the “Cap Arcona” once could.
In addition to demand for refrigerated transports, the related quality requirements have also steadily increased over the decades. Today, innovative technologies, such as Controlled Atmosphere (CA), ensure that the conditions in refrigerated containers precisely correspond to the requirements of the respective cargo. In addition to being monitored and documented, all data will soon also be accessible in real time during transport thanks to Remote Container Management (RCM). This development was of course unforeseeable around 120 years ago, when Hamburg Süd first entered refrigerated shipping with the “Cap Roca.”
