MCI's automatic ventilation 'AV+' saves energy by up to 25pc

MAERSK Container Industry (MCI) says its automatic ventilation system AV+ can save cargo owners and shippers up to 25 per cent in energy costs in refrigerated containers.

The company explained that traditionally shippers have manually set their reefer ventilation on "open" air exchange, but this practice incurs unnecessary energy costs and may damage the cargo's fruit or vegetables.

AV+ can limit the damage caused by over-ventilation which through condensation turns ambient humid air into water and frost inside the reefer. Another problem occurs when excessive amounts of ambient air needs to be either cooled or heated, resulting in a high level of energy consumption.

MCI tested AV+ with Crowley (tomatoes), Chiquita (bananas) and CMA-CGM (bananas), yielding energy savings of between 10 per cent and 25 per cent. For 100,000 reefer shipments with an average transit time of 20 days, this equates to a US$3 million saving.