Maersk Container Industry (MCI) has claimed an industry first with its Star Cool refrigerated containers after fitting them with a new embedded digital feature that offers visibility and precise knowledge of actual energy consumption.
Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping company and part of Maersk’s Transport & Logistics division, became the first of MCI’s customers to take delivery of the new Star Cool reefers at the start of the year.
The Star Cool refrigeration unit logs all data in real time, which can then be used to support strategic cost- and fleet optimisation processes.
Data can be monitored either by a modem or manually, at any time during the voyage, from when the Star Cool reefer is first turned on until it reaches its final destination.
Catja Hjorth Rasmussen, Head of Equipment Excellence at Maersk Line, said: “Taking our 270,000 reefer containers online has provided significant operational cost savings and will give our customers unprecedented visibility into their cargo during transport, enabling better planning across their supply chains.
“Being able to accurately track the energy consumption of individual Star Cool reefer containers is a valuable add on for us.
“It means that we can monitor actual energy consumption from point-to-point for different commodities, which supports not only cost optimisation but also our sustainability goals.”
Søren Leth Johannsen, Chief Commercial Officer of MCI, commented: “Delivering best-in-class energy efficiency has always been at the core of our innovation culture and we are very excited to be able to provide to our customers with a window directly into the detailed real-time energy consumption of Star Cool reefers.
“This will provide operators with clear knowledge of the performance of their Star Cool reefers and allow them to optimise operations and utilisation.”
