Container Refrigeration

Today, a newbuild Panamax containership of 4,600TEU will typically have capacity for 700 reefer plugs, and with a full load will consume 18 tons of HFO per day. However, you cannot just load a container plug it in and play like a computer component. Questions on requirements of the content and the power consumption demanded by this are just some of the items that a refrigeration technician must consider. With a growing global refrigerated trade of 50M tons p.a, and with few dedicated reefer ships on order, growth is going to be seen in the available refrigerated capacity on container ships. However, increased reefer cargo claims point to a lack of knowledge by both ship and shore personnel.