WEC is taking delivery of 50 x 45ft high-cube pallet-wide refrigerated containers and will deploy these across its northern Europe, Portugal, Spain, Morocco and Canary Island services. The investment has been made in light of what the carrier said “was the steadily rising demand for reefer containers across various industries, including food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and healthcare”. WEC also pointed to the sector’s resilient growth prospects.

The new 45ft refrigerated containers are all equipped with a state-of-the-art (electric) cooling system and temperatures can be accurately controlled in a range between -30ºC to +30ºC. It means the boxes are ideally suited for transporting a wide range of fruit, vegetables, fresh and/or processed food, pharmaceuticals and dairy products. These cargoes are extremely important in the trades that WEC serves.

Last month saw WEC start a new service linking Agadir in Morocco, Portugal and Spain with the UK, with the movement of perishables (citrus and tomatoes) very much in mind. The service also offers connections to France and Benelux. Its fast transit time means that it is highly competitive with trucking services and it is greener.

“With this new investment, WEC Lines is ready to meet the growing demand for refrigerated cargo within Europe”, said Caesar Luikenaar, managing director WEC Lines. “Adding new reefer units enables us to serve our clients with new and fresh stock and also meet the large demand for new containers and equipment availability in current markets”.