Another batch of 300 reefer containers is added to FESCO’s fleet. The 40-foot refrigerated containers will be delivered to the Russian company in Q1 2022. They will accompany a previous addition of 300 more containers added to the company’s fleet in 2021.

The purchase was specifically for Dalreftrans FESCO Transportation Group, a subsidiary of FESCO responsible for transporting goods subject to the controlled temperature regime. The company is active in sea, rail and road transport. Regarding rail, it uses Vladivostok as its base and connects with Moscow, Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg in Russia. With the latest reefer container addition, Dalreftrans’ fleet will reach a capacity of around 4,900 TEUs.

More reefers on rail?

Reefer containers are synonymous with transporting sensitive fresh or frozen products, such as fruits, vegetables, fish or meat. Transporting fruits and vegetables through Russian territory may be less of a hurdle. However, concerning fish and meat, the country poses strict rules, especially for imported products.

Until March 2020, Russia banned the transport of such sanctioned goods through its territory. Until that point, shippers couldn’t use trains to transfer products such as fresh or frozen fish and pass through Russia if these products originated from Europe, China, Canada or the U.S, for instance.

The situation is changed now, and the country requires documentation and control procedures that differ from other products but are still not very complicated. Due to this shift, FESCO completed its first intermodal transportation of containerised fish products through the Trans-Siberian route last April. Its intermodal train departed from Vladivostok in Russia and took thirty-three days to reach its final destination in Germany. Seeing that the company invests heavily in reefer containers could also mean that the company could ramp up the transport of sanctioned goods even more.

The new containers

Containers are equipped with a modern Carrier PrimeLINE refrigerator unit with the latest generation Carrier Micro-Link 5 controller, which provides 24-hour monitoring and maintains temperature regime. One of the main advantages of the new refrigerated containers is their equipment with GPS/GSM that allows tracking the containers’ location and transmits online information about the cargo temperature.

Also read: 

• Fish products through Russia faster than via Suez route
• Russia looks at Far East ports due to downturn overland transport
• Vladivostok and Europe connect via Finland Bridge
• FESCO and GEFCO partner up to bring more cargo from Asia to Europe