Danish multinational company Maersk Line has announced its debut shipment of Indian papayas to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), opening up a niche cargo category for non-frozen goods from farms in the state of Karnatka. 

Maersk Line's MD for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Franck Dedenis.

Using reefers from Mandya, the shipment left from the state's port of Mangalore and was sent on container vessel M. V. Tiger Goman to the UAE port of Jebel Ali.

In a release, the company said reefer services from farms to ports allow for expertise and care, facilitating the ease of doing business while supporting state initiatives wherever possible and providing an economical and reliable mode of transport as compared to air freight.

The group said the new route further reduced the transportation time, resulting in cost savings along with a considerable reduction in the carbon footprint while also avoiding state border tax as previously tranport used to happen through Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Maharashtra or the port of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. 

Maersk Line’s fleet of reefers come along with RCM- Remote Controlled Management - A simple technology consisting of a modem, GPS, wireless SIM card and satellite link, which enables to inspect and monitor the reefers all over the world.  

"India is one of the largest producers of papayas in the world. This breakthrough shipment is likely to allow Indian traders to reach out to newer and larger markets, helping them to enable and tap the growth potential held by the fruit export market." said Maersk Line managing director for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Franck Dedenis. 

Earlier this year, Maersk Line also enabled sea transport for a shipments of kinnow mandarins from India's National Capital Region (NCR), which was an industry first. 

The group continues to work on developing sea transport protocols for different commodities that have export potential for India in the long term.

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