Refrigerated Shipping Containers

Refrigerated shipping containers offer excellent quality thermal insulation properties and are used worldwide to maintain temperatures and humidity as required for a huge range of potential cargo.

Inside the container there is a stainless-steel food grade interior and in most cases they will come with an easy to jet wash aluminium T-bar floor. Refrigerated shipping containers offer an excellent level of insulation. Anecdotally if a loaded container set at -20 is down to temperature and unplugged, it will take more than 72 hours (3 days) before there is any risk of defrosting inside the container (regardless of outside temperature)

Refrigerated shipping containers will come with a set of heavy duty insulated cargo doors at one end only. The heat exchangers (fridge engine) are located at the opposite end to the doors at all times. All refrigerated containers will as standard come with a circa 12.5m 3 phase power cable from the engine end and they will require a 32 amp 3 phase power supply. 3 phase power sockets should be set to the ’Marine’ setting and you will require a motors rated (D-Rated) Circuit breaker on any power supply. A Professional electrician and combined refrigerated container engineer should always install any container on your site.

Its important to mention that refrigerated shipping containers are designed to be loaded with goods at a temperature, and to maintain this temperate for the trip. they are not designed to bring your goods down to temperature. It will not be practical to load a container with 20 tonnes of goods at room temperature and expect a refrigerated container to bring this down to minus 20. It might work but you will wear the engine out very fast if working it this hard (it would also take many days). Blast freezing options and similar are not built in as standard.

Refrigerated containers have a wider variance in design and build than standard cargo containers. Its important to mention when buying a used container that any specs offered are correct when new. Much like buying a used car, it probably wont’ quite reach its max speed or hit its 0-60 time, in the same way a 10-15 year old refrigerated shipping container may not quite meet the performance as advertised when new.

When used as a walk in fridge, freezer or ambient storage unit we will offer a commissioning service where we come and install the container, plug it in, test both the shipping containers engine and the electrical supply for approx 4 hours whilst it cools down to ensure it is operating properly. Beyond this point whilst our 2 year wind & watertight guarantee will always cover the structure of the shipping container, we cannot offer a blanket cast iron guarantee for the engine. In very basic terms whilst in your care we don’t’ know how well maintained or looked after it is installed. As such minimal if any guarantee is offered over the engine gear on used equipment.

Also important to note, we are selling a new or used refrigerated shipping container and not a walk-in fridge or freezer or other unit customised for a specific use. If there are any statutory requirements for the use that you intend, it is your responsibility to ensure a container is modified to meet these requirements. We can quote for a wide range of modifications as required.

Non Operational Refrigerated Shipping Containers

Very occasionally when a refrigerated shipping container takes the right sort of damage, we will have non operational shipping containers available for sale. these are excellent quality insulated and condensation free containers. We would consider them slightly better quality than a ply lined and insulated shipping container (although in practice both options achieve very similar results of condensation free storage) and will often be offered at a similar overall price.

These containers will have damage to the engine which is not economical to repair. The containers structure will otherwise be sound and our standard wind & watertight guarantee will still apply.

ISO standards dictate that the container will have double doors at one end only. The refrigeration engine is at the opposite end to the container and sits within the frame of the container itself. The container will come with a circa 12 metre power cable and will require a 32 amp 3 phase power supply. (power supply must also have a motor rated circuit breaker and be running on the marine setting and not the domestic UK setting)
Inside you will get a stainless steel internal panelling with more than likely an aluminium T-bar floor designed for easy jet wash cleaning. The insulation in the walls is very good quality, meaning that the container will maintain an ambient internal temperature regardless of weather its sat in the sahara desert or at the north pole.

Beyond this as construction techniques vary with much greater frequency than a shipping containers lifespan, not all refrigerated containers are built in exactly the same way so its very difficult to give you a general outline of construction that will apply in all cases. We can of course check or confirm individual specs offered at the time of your enquiry.

Most modern refrigerated containers (new and used) will come with a set temp range of +/- 30 Celsius and also offer humidity control.

Different factories and container fleet owners use different makes of engine which all perform differently to each other and may offer slightly differing internal dimensions for the cargo space. Some customers who want to ship this abroad will request a specific engine type as they know there is good availability for engineers to maintain the engines at their destination.

These containers are made from COR-TEN A grade steel (AKA Corten steel) which has superb anti-rust and longevity properties. When rust forms on Corten steel the rust layer itself is non-porous and won’t let water soak through it. This is the main reason why shipping containers will easily last 10-15 years in service being moved around the most inhospitable environments on earth.

All our shipping containers are checked over by a professional before sale. With the repair standard we specify we are confident to be able to offer our industry leading 2 year wind and watertight guarantee on all new, refurbished and used shipping containers. This means if your shipping container has a natural defect which results in a leak or other issue relating to its fitness for purpose as a storage container in its first 2 years we will come out and repair it free of charge.

Read more about our product guarantee

Shipping containers usually only suffer from wear when they are handled and moved to and from a truck, boat, train or container stack. As most of our customers buy a container that will remain static in one place, aside from the rubber door seal, there is very little to wear or go wrong with it.

We regularly see refurbished and used shipping containers that were supplied as used 10+ years ago performing very well with little to no maintenance. So you should expect this sort of lifespan. The only exception is the rubber door seals that can wear out more quickly if the doors are used frequently.

Refrigerated shipping containers have a largely GRP exterior which will not rust away over time. Only the end frames are exposed and these are so thick they will last a lifetime before rusting through (literally). Engines will become less efficient over time and may need own gas as regulations over refrigerant gasses are constantly evolving. We regularly see 20-30 year old ex refrigerated shipping containers which still have a good overall structure, but there is a danger with older units that a small hole in or near the roof can allow the wall space to fill with water which is extremely bad for the shipping container.

New or one trip shipping containers should last an extremely long time, but as manufacturing techniques change so frequently (every 5-10 years or so) it is very hard to test the exact lifespan of a container. We know that a typical one trip container is circa 12 years younger than a used shipping container, and as we would expect 10 years solid use from a used container, its pretty safe to assume that a 20-22+ year lifespan for a new shipping container is very achievable.

Refrigerated shipping containers have a reasonably rigid set of uses. they are used for the transport or storage of chilled, frozen, ambient or other temperature controlled goods.

Foods transport and storage being the most popular, however chemicals, pharmaceuticals and even fine wines may want to be transported or stored within the risk of going above or below a certain temperature of humidity value.

Beyond this we have also seen non operational refrigerated containers being used for a huge variety of uses from storage of ambient foodstuffs, tool sheds, archive storage units and more.