The first refrigerated vessel, Nagato Reefer, docked on 3 July 2013 at Philadelphia’s Holt Terminal in Gloucester, New Jersey. Onboard were +/- 245,000 cartons of clementines, navel and cara cara oranges. Some early citrus, including Star Ruby grapefruit arrived in June in containers.
Also onboard was King Citrus, South Africa Summer Citrus’ new friendly mascot. “King Citrus is key to our branding initiative,” said Suhanra Conradie, CEO of the Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum. “South Africa Summer Citrus logo has long included unique elements to South Africa- the lion being the most prominent. King Citrus is a visual extension of its tagline Pride of Our Land – an obvious connection to a pride of lions and an accurate description of pride our growers take in sending premium citrus fruit to the U.S.”
