Great White Fleet Corporation (GWF), the dedicated ocean carrier arm of Chiquita Brands International, has deployed its 14th vessel and will inject 2,000 new refrigerated containers into its rotation by December 2026, scaling cold chain capacity ahead of the Q4 2026 peak season.

The added vessel, the Chiquita Express, brings 2,742 TEU of capacity and 400 reefer points to GWF's Pan-American and European trade networks. Built in 2006, the ship previously sailed as the Vilano and Cap Vilano.

The 2,000 new reefers carry Carrier Transicold's OptimaLINE machinery with controlled atmosphere (CA) technology, which extends the shelf life of high-value perishables — avocados, berries, citrus and grapes among them — over long-distance transit. It is believed some or all of the new units are leased from Dutch Container Merchants B.V., headquartered in Amsterdam.

Three new corridors from October

GWF will launch three transit corridors in October 2026, combining rail and ocean legs:

North American Inland Link — a direct train route connecting the U.S. Midwest via the central rail hub of Harvey, Illinois, to Gulfport, Mississippi, for export into Central America. Canadian National provides the service from its Chicago ramp to Gulfport.

Peru to U.S. Northeast (Philadelphia) Service — a direct ocean route built for south-to-north seasonal produce flows into the U.S. Northeast.

Ecuador to Global Markets Express — a new ocean service linking Guayaquil directly to major U.S. and European ports.

For perishables shippers in Latin America and the U.S. interior, the corridors shorten the path to market. Midwest exporters gain a single rail leg from the Chicago area to Gulf port access, while Peruvian and Ecuadorian producers gain direct sailings rather than transshipment-dependent routings into Philadelphia, U.S. and European gateways.

The expansion tightens competition in the seasonal reefer trades, where controlled-atmosphere capacity and schedule precision directly determine product quality at destination — and therefore shippers' realized margins.

"Deploying the Chiquita Enterprise and injecting 2,000 high-spec reefers into our network directly addresses the industry's demand for reliable, high-precision cold chain capacity," said Stefano di Paolo, President of Great White Fleet. "We are protecting our clients' margins by preserving product quality across longer distances. Our aim, after all, is to be First in Fresh."

"These new ocean and rail connections greatly expand service offerings and improve destination flexibility," added Simon Cole, Director at GWF. "By linking Chicago directly to Gulfport, and opening faster lanes out of Peru and Ecuador, we are giving global shippers the agility they need in a dynamic supply chain environment."

GWF framed the fleet growth as a response to demand from global perishables and frozen cargo producers, positioning the carrier to capture south-to-north produce volumes as the Q4 2026 peak season builds across the Pan-American and European trades.