Geest Line is proud to unveil its Yellow “Banana container”. The brand-new state of the art reefer container has been painted yellow to stand out in the crowd! We aim with your help to track the container as it ships between the Caribbean, the UK and Europe.
The container will take temperature-controlled produce out to the Caribbean before returning full of Banana’s. This container can hold nearly 110 thousand Banana’s and takes just 10 days to sail back to Europe. The container controls the temperature so that they arrive in Europe and the UK in perfect condition for ripening before hitting the stores and eventually our lunch boxes and fruit bowls.
If you see the container (and there is only one) please take a photo and tag #bananabox. To kick us off we have pictures of the box in Portsmouth UK where it was sprayed and loading in Polarkold with our valued customer Caribbean Trading’s cargo bound for St Lucia on the Atlantic Klipper.
Geest Line provides reliability for its customers
During what has been a chaotic year in shipping, Geest Line has maintained an impressive record for reliability. Geest Line has this week published year to date 100% on day reliability westbound from The Netherlands and the UK to the Caribbean Islands. This compares favorably to the Sea-Intelligence August Global liner report, which shows container line reliability at 33.6% on time, the lowest for over a decade.
Geest line have been shipping essential cargo westbound to the Caribbean Islands for over 65 years. The Islands anecdotally “set their watch” by the arrival of the distinctive Geest Line Vessels and with the shipping world in meltdown Geest Line continues to deliver. General freight manager Richard Stapleton said “Providing our weekly service from Flushing and Portsmouth ensures the Islands receive regular stocks of essential supplies. We ship all manner of commodities from dairy products for the supermarkets, to Bulldozers for construction projects. Our customers are relying on us, and we have not let them down”.
Serving the Caribbean Islands is not all plain sailing though. With hurricane season and Island lockdowns due to Covid-19, Geest Line has worked tirelessly to ensure we maintain our schedule. Geest Line Marine planning expert Stella Childs said, “meticulous planning and understanding the trade lane allows us to work closely with the vessel captains and the Island ports to mitigate any obstacles, resulting in on time berthing in the Islands”.
Once the cargo is discharged our vessels are used to bring back bananas, which is probably what we are most famous for. Geest Line bring on average 28 million bananas every week for distribution throughout the UK and Europe.
Geest Line are keen to avoid complacency and continue to deliver an excellent service even through the seasonal peaks. Such is demand for space on the vessel westbound to the Islands, Geest Line have been advising its customers to book early to avoid disappointment. “We are expecting a busy run up to Christmas with global travel restrictions being relaxed and the Islands starting to slowly reopen. Booking early ensures space on the vessel and cargo arrives in good time to for the festivities”, says Debbie Taylor UK sales executive for Geest line.
Geest Line ship to Barbados, Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, St Kitts, Curacao, and the Dominican Republic direct from The Netherlands and the UK. For a quote or simply more information on our services call our dedicated UK based customer service team on 01489 873500, or email us at [email protected] or visit our website www.geestline.com, it will be our pleasure to help you.
Geest Line once again assisted the Rotary Club Winchester with a pallet of much needed equipment for supporting the amputees in St Lucia. (more…)
Geest Line once again took part in the annual charity go-karting event organised by GDM Lindex, this year supporting Rainbows Children’s Hospice. A fiercely competitive field of 25 teams took part in the 100-minute endurance race, raising £2745 in the process for Rainbows.
The Geest Line team qualified on pole position but ended up down in sixth place after a tough opening lap. Battling hard through the field, the team eventually made it onto the podium with a well-deserved third place finish.
Geest Line recently shipped on behalf of the Rotary Club Winchester and the Rotary Club of Gros Islet St Lucia, two pallets of cargoes to help severely disadvantaged children of St Lucia. Geest Line was very proud to play a small role shipping the items free of charge for such a deserving cause. Please click here to read the detailed report.
Once again the staff at Geest Line were out in force to support the annual Macmillan Coffee morning. Some made cakes, some bought cakes, some just ate cakes. However all took part and more importantly put their hands in their pockets, making a very commendable £208.70. Well done to all for supporting such a worthy cause.
This September Geest Line again proudly supported the annual GDM Lindex charity karting event which helped raise £2600 for the charity Debra UK. Debra is a national charity supporting individuals and families affected by Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) – a painful genetic skin blistering condition.
The 100 minute endurance race was again held at the PF International Kart Circuit in Lincolnshire, with a grid of 22 teams all competing for honours. Nick Barker, IT Manager at Geest Line, along with brother Andy battled back to a podium finish after a difficult start. The best-ever result saw Geest Line again finish ahead of fellow industry competitors. A good night was had by all for a worthy cause.