Measuring the package shipping environment in refrigerated ocean vessels

The dynamic and climatic environments inside the cargo holds of regrigerated ships carrying bananas from Central America to destinations in Europe and the United States were measured. The same environments inside individual packages of bananas were also measured for comparison. Among the variables studied were shock and vibration G‐levels, temperature, humidity, and air velocity. Three different types of shipments were monitored: break‐bulk, palletized, and containerized. The results show that the average G‐levels are similar to those found on trailers and railcars and that the vibration levels in the packages themselves were amplified by up to as much as eight times.