Some 3,500,000 bananas rotting in ship in American port

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Digital Journal

Some 3,500,000 bananas rotting in ship in American port
By Marcus Hondro
Dec 21, 2013 - 5 hours ago

A legal battle is ongoing between Del Monte Fresh Produce and a shipping line from the Netherlands, Seatrade Group, over 110,000 cartons of bananas. The bananas are now rotting in a cargo ship, the Green Brazil.

With some 30 to 35 bananas in each carton it works out to about 3,520,000 bananas waiting now to be disposed of.
Del Monte claims the bananas were ruined in the 4 day journey from Guatemala to Gloucester City, New Jersey because they were stored at the wrong temperature, by Seatrade. They have sued the shipping company for $1.5 million, saying that upon arrival the tropical fruit was "no longer fit for human consumption."
There hasn't been a public comment from Seatrade and meanwhile the New York judge presiding over the case has ordered that the Green Brazil, with the overripe product onboard, remain in the port until a resolution is found.

Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/biz/business/some-3-500-000-bananas-rotting-in-ship-in-american-port/article/364426#ixzz2oAun0DUK

[davidpdx]

1. That is just bananas

[KurtNYC]

22. This is the disaster that Harry Belafonte warned us about

[RobertEarl]

2. Good fertilizer

All that potassium is great for gardens.

[MADem]

23. +1 nt

[Historic NY]

3. Man, the fruit flies are going to be outrageous soon.

[LeftyMom]

4. They should just make a shitload of banana bread. Problem solved.

[DeSwiss]

6. !

[Jesus Malverde]

29. My first thought!...nt

[cvoogt]

5. It's Jersey

No one will smell that

[yuiyoshida]

7. YOU REALIZE this is HOW the PLANET OF THE APES...GOT STARTED RIGHT?

[dipsydoodle]

13. lol

[dawn frenzy adams]

8. That's captialism!

Waste food while people starve.

[Gore1FL]

16. Sounds like it was wasted en route due to bad refrigeration. n/t

[Codeine]

18. It was a refrigeration accident. nt

[cosmicone]

9. They should carry no-fault insurance

on perishable cargo. That way, the cargo can be immediately donated to soup kitchens etc. instead of rotting on a ship.

[truthisfreedom]

10. I hate bananas.

Sickeningly sweet and perfumy. But I do live banana bread for some reason.

[DFW]

11. I thought I was the only one in the world who felt that way

A one-in-a-million partial DNA replication, no doubt

[bananas]

19. What did I do to you???

[sendero]

21. Yes and Banana....

.... is definitely the worst Tootsie Roll Pop flavor of all time

[dipsydoodle]

12. Yes we have no bananas

By and large UK supermarkets only sell Fair Trade bananas.

[seveneyes]

14. 30 Thousand pounds

[wandy]

26. And the smell of 30 Thousand pounds, of rotting bananas.

[burnsei sensei]

15. And Americans go hungry.

Anything wrong with this picture?

[Gore1FL]

17. The food arrived rotten.

They were rotted during shipping and were unfit for human consumption upon arrival. The issue is who pays for it, the shipping company or Del Monte.

There is no nutritional value to help anyone who is hungry--even if they handed the packages out at the port when they arrived.

[Codeine]

20. They're no longer edible.

They rotted during the shipping process, not while waiting in harbor. The only thing wrong with this picture is expecting people to eat rotten bananas.

[burnsei sensei]

30. No, the main thing that's wrong with this picture

is that the bananas are a commodity that was allowed to become worthless to everyone.
Still, Americans go hungry.

[BlueEye]

24. They should make banana bread!!

Better when they're a little soft...

[Turbineguy]

25. This is not uncommon.

We once brought a refrigerated container of wine from France to the US. It was supposed to be set for 22 deg C. It was set at 22 deg F. Unfortunately we didn't catch this for a couple of days. Judging by the weight of the container, there wasn't much in it, meaning, it was expensive wine. 7-11 does not usually sell Chateau Palmer.

[dipsydoodle]

33. You've lost me there

At 22f the wine would be just above freezing.

At -22c / -8f it would be frozen solid and at + 22c / 72f would it have needed refrigerating ?

[Turbineguy]

34. As it turns out, you're right!

I just looked up the freezing temperature of wine and it's 15 to 20 F. A refrigerated container maintains a set temperature. In cold weather the box will run as a heat pump. Gas, instead of going from the compressor to the condenser, is sent to the evaporator where it warms the container. It bypasses the expansion valve. In the drawing below, item 38 switches from cooling to heat.

[valerief]

27. But must cut corners. Free trade and all. What does safety for human consumption

matter when there's a bottom line to consider?

[LuvLoogie]

28. That's a helluva lotta banana bread.

[Omaha Steve]

31. The tally me banana man got laid off?

or

[ManiacJoe]

32. This type of thing should be a standard business insurance claim.

Why do the courts need to be involved?

[leftyladyfrommo]

35. That must smell awful.

I hate the smell of too ripe bananas.