An additional, very practical innovation from Maersk Line are Sorties. These are reefer containers that have been modified to serve as a sorting area for frozen products - mainly fish. The cargo is loaded into the Sortie through a hole in the roof directly from the reefer vessel or fishing vessel. This is to minimise exposure to ambient temperatures during the sorting and/or stuffing operation.

Holes have been made in the side walls of the container, where up to five reefer containers can be attached by use of an airtight membrane. This operation prevents any ambient air from entering the containers. This facilitates the whole compartment to remain under full refrigeration during the entire operation.

Benefits of using Sortie containers:

Time spent in the discharging (sorting) operation is reduced.
The fishing vessel's port expenses are reduced.
Cargo exposure to ambient temperature is minimised.

Frozen fish and other frozen commodities that need to be sorted prior to loading into the container, can benefit from this service.

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