Kyokuyo’s 200th Vessel Delivers Meat & Fruit to Wilmington
Port of Wilmington officials will celebrate the arrival of the Shinano Reefer, Kyokuyo Shipping Company’s 200th vessel to call in Wilmington, with a ceremony and reception held on board the vessel on April 9th. The Shinano Reefer will carry shipments of New Zealand frozen beef and frozen fish, as well as this season’s first shipments of Enza New Zealand apples and pears.
Kyokuyo Shipping Company is one of the world’s major reefer shipping lines, specializing in the transportation of New Zealand meat, fish and fresh fruits to North America.
Kyokuyo established a bi-weekly New Zealand – U.S East Coast reefer liner service in early 1991, and the first vessel called in Wilmington on March 1, 1991. Today, Wilmington is Kyokuyo’s main port-of-call, receiving over 60,000 tons per year of frozen New Zealand beef and frozen fish. Kyokuyo operates the meat and fish trade to Wilmington year round, and during the spring and summer months, its ships carry New Zealand apples, pears and kiwifruit for that country’s largest fruit exporters. In 2000, Kyokuyo Shipping carried over 100,000 tons of New Zealand food products to Wilmington.
Kyokuyo Shipping’s modern refrigerated vessels call at five New Zealand ports to load meat, fish and fruit, including Whangarei, Tauranga, Napier, New Plymouth and Nelson on the south island.
The long and solid relationship between Kyokuyo Shipping and the Port of Wilmington has helped to develop the Port’s special niche in refrigerated cargo and has helped make Wilmington one of the nation’s largest ports and distribution centers for meat imports. Wilmington, which is also the leading Port in the nation for imports of fresh fruit, has became the leading center in the US East Coast for imports of New Zealand fresh fruit.
The Port has dedicated high quality cold storage warehouses and distribution facilities for the meat and fresh fruit imports. From Wilmington, the fruit and the meat are distributed by refrigerated truck throughout the US and eastern Canada.
Founded
in 1923, the Port of Wilmington is an important asset for
the local and regional economy, generating more than 5,800 jobs and
contributing over $22 million in annual tax revenues to State and local
government. The Port is owned and operated by the Diamond State
Port Corporation, a corporation of the State of Delaware. For
further information, digital photos, free tours of the Port and free
speakers contact: Vered Nohi-Becker, Marketing Services Manager
at the Port of Wilmington
@
(302) 472-7819, e-mail: vnbecker@port.state.de.us
