Where does the tuna come from?
Some of the remotest zones in the ocean harbour the world’s most premium quality tuna. These fish are caught by the longliners, a class of ships that drop anchor
in these regions for months at a stretch.
Once a sizeable quantity of tuna has been caught, the immediate task is to store the high-value fish and transport them as efficiently as possible to a market. This involves carefully freezing the tuna to preserve its freshness and quality during the long journey back to shore, where they are then auctioned off to the highest bidder.
What poses a challenge to tuna quality?
The tuna needs delicate care to maintain its best quality so that it can fetch the best possible prices. The key challenge is to ensure an unbroken cold chain: from the time it is offloaded and stuffed into containers, to its arrival at destinations anywhere in the world.
Currently, bulk vessels equipped with refrigeration capabilities are used to transport tuna from fishing zones to market ports. Meanwhile, longliners, which have time and destination limitations, continue to fish. Alternatively, the longliner itself may return to its home port once or twice a year to directly offload the tuna, but this incurs significant time and maintenance costs.
How can the tuna stay fresh?
To maintain the texture, quality, and nutritional properties of the tuna throughout its journey to destination markets, Maersk employs a dual strategy: an unbroken cold chain through our one-stop solution (see graphic below) and the all-new StarFreeze™ containers.
These containers are powered by an advanced insulation and refrigeration technology, supporting temperatures as low as -60°C, ensuring the valuable tuna remains fresh, even over long distances. With the new fleet of StarFreeze™ containers and support systems, Maersk can offer this solution anywhere in the world.
The way this container can keep tuna fresh until it reaches Tokyo is a miracle.
How has StarFreezeTM helped customers?
After years of continuous improvements in our super freezer technology, we rolled out StarFreeze™ to customers in late 2023.
They have been successful in creating more value for our customers, helping them move tuna over thousands of kilometres without any loss of quality. This has helped them find more lucrative markets for their sought-after fish.
Customers have been pleased with the results and vow to utilise StarFreeze™ in future too.
We have a proven concept that clearly brings value to our customer and we look forward to quickly scale it for other origins and destinations.
The one-stop-shop solution for tuna
We’re committed to helping you with comprehensive support for tuna storage and transport. Whether you require a fully managed end-to-end cold chain or solutions customised to your needs, we’ve got you covered. Take a peek at a few of our services.
- StarFreezeTM
- Hypercare team
- Booking services
- Fishing vessel coordination
- Stevedoring services
- Shore crane services
- Generator services
- Stuffie solutions
What are the benefits of Maersk’s one-stop-shop cold chain solution?
Interested in StarFreeze or the one-stop-shop solution?
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