- The President of Dole Fresh Fruit North America and several members of Dole’s leadership team paid a visit to Port Tampa Bay this week to celebrate the success of our partnership and discuss plans for their future at our port. Stephen Hylton, Controller Operations, Cynthia Nunes, Senior Vice President of Banana Sales and Brennon Neff, Vice President of Pineapple Sales joined Dole’s President Nelson Montoya for a meeting with Port Tampa Bay and Port Logistics Refrigerated Services (PLRS). 

Dole presented Port Tampa Bay with a replica of their ship, the MV DOLE AZTEC. Dick Corbett of PLRS was presented with a replica of the MV DOLE MAYA. The MV DOLE MAYA and MV DOLE AZTEC were built in 2021 to meet strict emission mandates to substantially reduce greenhouse gases and use the latest exhaust scrubbing technology, which reduces SOx and NOx emissions. 

In late July of this year, Dole added Port Tampa Bay to a new containerized service between Central America and the US Gulf. The US Gulf Express includes a weekly direct call at Port Tampa Bay from Puerto Cortes and Puerto Castilla in Honduras, and Puerto Barrios, in Guatemala. In addition to Dole Fresh Fruit discharging bananas and pineapples at Port Tampa Bay, fixed weekly Full Container Load (FCL) containerized cargo service is offered through Dole's commercial cargo division, Dole Ocean Cargo Express, LLC, to/from Puerto Cortes, Honduras and to/from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, with inland service to El Salvador.  

Port Logistics Refrigerated Services provides terminal and stevedoring for the service at Port Tampa Bay. The PLRS terminal facility includes a new state-of-the-art 135,000 square foot cold storage warehouse, 148 reefer plugs, and fumigation services, as well as an adjacent berth served by two dedicated mobile harbor cranes. 

Dole is the world's largest producer of bananas and pineapples and an industry leader in packaged salads, fresh vegetables and diversified fruits.