Klinge Corporation has delivered its Container Blast Freezer Unit Model CBU-30 to the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries of Indonesia through PT Waisity Indonesia for the Fishermen Empowerment project.
The CBU-30 is designed to quickly freeze cargo to -60°C (-76°F). The Ministry will be using the freezer to keep sashimi/sushi-grade tuna at the required temperature.
Blast freezing tuna and other high-value fish to an ultra-low temperature of -60ºC (-76ºF) substantially reduces transportation costs, as the fish can be transported by container ship rather than air freighted. It also allows for long-term storage so customers can purchase as needed and no tuna is wasted.
Tests have also shown that shelf-life is increased when tuna is frozen to -60ºC (-76ºF) and thawed in a controlled environment.
The Freezer Container was delivered to the Port of Surabaya, where it was then transferred to the remote Banda Islands. Indonesian agent and in-country project leader Polly Katipana noted of the arrival and a newspaper in Ambon published an article on December 31, 2016. The article was entitled: ‘High Technology of Freezer produced by Klinge Corporation USA, already in Banda Naira’. The Governor of Maluku discussed the unit with the lead fisherman of the group using the container, who referred to it as a gift of the holidays.
The Banda Islands were known for being the sole producer of nutmeg in the 17th century and their history is uniquely intertwined with one of the world’s most well-known cities. At the time, nutmeg was thought to cure the plague, so battles ensued between the Dutch and the British to claim this island.
Intent on securing their hold over every nutmeg island in Southeast Asia, the Dutch offered a trade: if the British would give them Run Island, they would in turn give Britain a far-away, much less valuable island that the British had already occupied illegally since 1664. That other island was Manhattan.