Dole Food Company, Inc., Westlake Village, Calif., approved updating the company’s owned vessel fleet with the acquisition of three new specialty built refrigerated container ships for its U.S. West Coast operations, costing approximately $165 million, for a phased delivery in the late 2015 to early 2016 timeframe.
“Updating our West Coast shipping capabilities is very important strategically to the company’s competitive differentiation and future growth prospects,” says C. Michael Carter, president and COO. “These ships will be 27 years old at the time of replacement. The new ships will be more fuel efficient and will be built to Dole’s exacting specifications and design, with a 770 FEU capacity (compared to the replaced ships with 491 FEU) and equipped with gantry cranes.”