Quenching the world’s thirst for OJ

There are at least eleven dedicated fruit juice tankers currently in operation. Six are operated by Atlanship SA of Lausanne, Switzerland; four are operated by Aleuropa of Hamburg, Germany; and one is operated by Northern Navigation Norway of Oslo, Norway. These ships carry orange juice, primarily concentrate, under refrigeration from Brazil to the United States and to Europe and, less frequently, to Asia and the Pacific. The ships generally are divided into four or five cargo holds into which are placed between one and four refrigerated cylindrical stainless steel tanks specially designed for carriage of orange juice. Fresh juice is carried at a temperature of -1°C, while concentrated juice is carried at a temperature of -10°C. Overall, Brazilian orange juice provides 25% of the world market and is particularly dominate in Europe. Some of the ships were designed and constructed specifically for this trade, while others have been converted from other use. The oldest ship was delivered in 1985 and the youngest in 2011. They range in size from 15,000 to 43,000 DWT and can carry between 8,700 and 30,800 cubic meters of juice. They mostly ply their trade unobtrusively. The Orange Sun, though, was involved in a minor collision in New York harbor in January 2008. It lost steering while entering port and rammed a dredge working alongside the channel. There were no injuries, but the incident was video-recorded by the US Coast Guard and widely broadcast via the internet.