A vessel from Valparaiso carrying Chilean cherries has arrived in Hong Kong with a record number of containers on board.

The MANZANILLO EXPRESS, a Hapag-Lloyd vessel plying the carrier's seasonal CHERRY EXPRESS service, running from November to February, arrived in Hong Kong on December 31. 

In a statement, Modern Terminals said 1,222 active reefer containers were discharged in Hong Kong, the highest number of Chilean cherry containers ever discharged in Hong Kong from a single vessel call.

"We call Hong Kong with our CHERRY EXPRESS service because we know we can trust the reliable and efficient service at the terminals in Hong Kong. Our customers appreciate the HOT BOX arrangement in Hong Kong, which allows our customers to pick up the container immediately after it has been offloaded from the vessel," said Axel von Bloh, general manager of Hapag-Lloyd.s Hong Kong office.

"This service enables the cherry containers to be transported across the boundary and into consumer markets all over South China in only a few hours after landing in Hong Kong," von Bloh added.

The cherry from Chile is a popular gift in Mainland China in the lead-up to Chinese New Year. Getting it into the hands of the consumers in its originally fresh and tasty condition is a priority for the Exporters in Chile and the Import companies in South China.

The unique HOT BOX service makes Hong Kong the main gateway for thousands of containers every year.

"Hong Kong is a Free Port, enabling the fast dispatch of containers from the terminals. This makes Hong Kong the preferred gateway for many perishable high-value products. It looks like it will be another amazing season for the Chilean cherries in China," said Horace Lo, group managing director of Modern Terminals Ltd.

"We congratulate the Exporters in Chile and the Importers in China with the positive results and thank all of them for their confidence in Hong Kong as the freshest gateway to China and the rest of Asia," Lo added.

If containers need a connection to other parts of Asia, Hong Kong is the ideal transhipment hub, with 8,000 reefer plugs available across the Hong Kong Seaport Alliance, the highest number of reefer plugs at any port in South China.