- Port Tampa Bay and cold storage tenant, Port Logistics Refrigerated Services, are pleased to announce they received their first shipment of Costa Rican pineapples.  On Saturday, September 22, 2018, Seacat Line delivered refrigerated containers of fresh pineapples for customer Chestnut Hill Farms. The pineapples were shipped from the Port of Moin, Costa Rica to Port Tampa Bay aboard the new vessel M/V Juice Express. Crews at Port Logistics Refrigerated Services unloaded the pineapples at their new terminal on Saturday. 

“We are pleased to be working with Seacat Line, Port Tampa Bay, and Port Logistics Refrigerated Services,” said Raul Romero, President & COO of Chestnut Hill Farms. This new routing provides us with excellent access to serve our customers in Florida and throughout the Southeastern United States. We expect this will be the first of regular ongoing shipments.”

Rick Sharp, COO of Port Logistics Refrigerated Services, added, “We are delighted to be working with Chestnut Hill Farms and the Bounty Group, and excited to provide them with a faster, fresher and more cost effective supply chain solution to serve their customers.”

Chestnut Hill Farms is one of the world’s leading growers, importers, marketers and distributers of premium-quality produce grown in diverse locations throughout Latin America. 

Seacat Line operates M/V Juice Express, a combination juice tanker and container ship, on a regular service between Moin, Costa Rica and Port Tampa Bay, on behalf of Seatrade Reefer Chartering and Tampa Juice. NAGA Logistics is the Tampa agent for Seacat Line.

Port Logistics Refrigerated Services operates a new 130,000 square foot on-dock cold storage facility at Port Tampa Bay with onsite USDA/CBP inspection and fumigation services, 102 refrigerated container plugs and an adjacent deep-water berth and a dedicated mobile harbor crane. 

About Port Tampa Bay

Port Tampa Bay is Florida’s largest port, supporting nearly 85,000 jobs and generating over $17 billion in annual economic impact. In addition to being a top 10 U.S. cruise port, the port handles a wide array of bulk, break bulk, containers and roll-on/roll-off cargoes, and is a major shipbuilding and repair center. For more information, visit www.portTB.com.