Reefer Container Shipping from India
Temperature-controlled ocean freight where the cold chain is evidenced from stuffing to discharge, not assumed.
A reefer is a machine, and machines are inspected before use
The difference between reefer freight that works and reefer freight that produces a claim is almost entirely front-loaded. A refrigerated container is a running machine that must be serviced, tested and set correctly before your cargo goes anywhere near it, and the industry term for that test is the pre-trip inspection.
We insist on a PTI on every unit and on seeing the result. A container that has failed or skipped one is a container whose behaviour over a three-week voyage is unknown, and the first evidence of a problem is usually the cargo.
Set point, and the difference between chilled and frozen
The set point is the temperature the unit maintains, and it is not a suggestion — the machine will hold it and will not correct for cargo loaded at the wrong temperature. This is the most common and most expensive misunderstanding in reefer freight: a container does not chill warm cargo down. It maintains what it is given.
Product loaded above its target temperature will stay above it, or take days to pull down while the top of the stow deteriorates. Cargo must arrive at the container already at temperature, which means the cold chain starts at your facility, not at the port.
Frozen cargo is comparatively forgiving because the target is well below any spoilage threshold. Chilled cargo is not — a few degrees of drift on fresh produce or pharmaceuticals is the difference between a saleable consignment and a write-off.
Ventilation, humidity and the settings people forget
Beyond temperature, a reefer has settings that matter as much for some cargo and are routinely left at default.
- Fresh air exchange — respiring produce needs it; frozen and most non-food cargo does not, and leaving it open wastes energy and admits humidity
- Humidity control, which matters for produce and for hygroscopic products
- Controlled atmosphere on long voyages for produce that ripens in transit
- Airflow through the stow, which is decided by how the cargo is loaded rather than by the machine
- Data logging, so the temperature record exists as evidence rather than as a claim about what probably happened
How the cargo is stuffed decides whether the settings matter
A reefer cools by circulating air through the load, entering along the floor channels and returning at the top. If the stow blocks that circulation the machine reports the set point correctly while parts of the cargo sit several degrees warmer, which is precisely the scenario that produces a claim against a container whose data log looks perfect.
That means loading to the T-bar floor without covering the channels, keeping the stow below the red load line, not blocking the evaporator, and spacing to allow air through rather than packing solid. We supervise stuffing on temperature-critical consignments rather than leaving it to whoever is available at the CFS.
Power, plugs and the gaps in the chain
A reefer only refrigerates while it is plugged in. The vulnerable moments are the gaps: on the road between your facility and the terminal, waiting at the port before it is connected, during transhipment when it is moved between vessels, and at the destination between discharge and delivery.
On genset-equipped haulage the road leg is covered. At the terminal the question is how quickly the unit is plugged in and whether the port monitors it. On transhipment routes there is an additional handover, and each handover is a place a plug does not go back in. We route temperature-critical cargo direct where we can, and where we cannot we choose the transhipment port on its reefer handling rather than on the freight rate.
What we handle
Booking with the PTI condition, genset haulage from your facility, supervised stuffing with the settings recorded, the export clearance, monitoring during the voyage, and the temperature record at the far end.
On regulated cargo — food and pharmaceuticals in particular — the destination will want documentary proof of the chain, not assurances. The data log is that proof, and it only exists if someone set the logger up at the start.
Asked often about this service
Will the container cool my cargo down after loading?
No, and this is the costliest misunderstanding in reefer freight. The unit maintains the set point; it does not pull warm cargo down to it. Product must be at temperature before it is stuffed, which means the cold chain starts at your facility.
Do you provide the temperature record?
Yes. The unit logs continuously and we supply the download, which is what a buyer or a regulator will actually ask for. Without it you have an assertion about the voyage rather than evidence of it.
What happens if the reefer fails at sea?
Vessels carry reefer engineers and monitor units under way, and most faults are recoverable. The real protection is the pre-trip inspection that catches a marginal machine before it sails, plus cargo insurance — carrier liability limits will not cover a container of spoiled product.
Can you ship chilled pharmaceuticals?
Yes, with the caveat that the tighter the band the more the route matters. We favour direct services, avoid transhipment where the band is narrow, and set up logging that satisfies the receiving regulator rather than just our own records.