Meat damaged due to wrong temperature settings


The container vessel had loaded cargo in a South American port to be discharged in Europe. Several reefer containers with meat were also loaded. The containers had been filled with superior chilled meat at a cargo temperature of around 0°C. The containers were set to chilling mode with a set point temperature of -1.4°C.


For some reason one of the containers was switched to freezing mode with a set point of -18°C and remained at this setting throughout the entire month’s voyage to Europe. On the bill of lading, it was stipulated that the container should be kept chilled at a temperature of -1.4°C. However, during the loading operation the agent supplied an initial reefer list which had two separate entries for this container - one stated that the container should be chilled and another stated that it should be frozen.


This mistake was discovered by the crew, and the agent then updated the reefer list confirming the set point temperature as -1.4°C for the container. One month later the vessel discharged the containers in Europe.


When the cargo receiver inspected the meat, it found it to be frozen. The meat should have been chilled as it becomes damaged when it is frozen.


According to the container unit’s records the temperature in the container fell a couple of days after departure. This caused the meat to freeze. Over a sufficiently long time, even a reefer container will achieve solid freezing of the entire cargo. In this case, there was clearly sufficient time.


Each piece of meat was packed in a heat-sealed vacuum plastic liner bag. When the cargo receiver inspected the meat, it had turned dark red and slightly brownish and the vacuum bags contained a considerable quantity of blood. The meat which was initially of superior quality could now only be used for lower-end products and had to be sold for a loss.


Damage to seafood


A shipment of containerised boxed shrimps shipped from Argentina to China was found to be badly frosted. The shrimps inside the boxes were also beginning to blacken due to melanosis. Shrimps and crustacea undergo melanosis (an enzyme


catalysed oxidation) when they are kept at incorrect temperatures and/ or past their shelf life. Melanosis is also related to the freshness of the product at the time of freezing and whether it has been treated with any preservatives. While melanosis is not dangerous for consumption, it is a quality control indicator, and renders the shrimps unsightly and unsaleable.


The frosting is a second indicator that the product had suffered temperature abuse. Frosting appears when a product is thawed and then partially refrozen. Usually, the boxes are tightly packed into the containers, restricting airflow through the cargo and effectively insulating the cartons inside the stow compared to the ones in the outside. The product on the inside of the stow would be insulated against the worst damage by the cargo around it. It is then expected to observe a gradient of damage as the condition of the cartons is poorest nearest the door and the external edges of the stow, with the damage lessening towards the rear of the container.


The cargo should always be kept below the load line of the container, away from the container walls and not beyond the ‘T’ bars to allow the refrigerated air to flow freely around


90 | ISSUE 106 | DEC 2023 | THE REPORT


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