On Monday 6 May, North Sea Port welcomed the vessel Citrus Vita Brasil belonging to Ghent-based fruit juice company Citrosuco.
According to North Sea Port’s press release, this vessel has been converted from a container ship into a fruit-juice tanker. Having been back in operation for a few months now, it entered the port in Ghent, where Citrosuco has its only production location in Europe.
For Citrosuco, it was a conscious decision to convert an existing container ship into a fruit-juice tanker. In addition to reducing costs, this also saved the company a great deal of time. Building a new fruit-juice tanker ‘from scratch’ takes much longer than the conversion process, which required approximately six months to complete. This conversion work included the installation of tanks in the hatches and raising the body of the ship because the tanks are taller than the original deck.
Citrosuco meets around half of the European market's demand for orange pulp. The Citrus Vita Brasil is the first converted vessel owned by the fruit juice company.