SUPER REEFER TO THE RESCUE

ITIC’s usual involvement with reefer containers is when they are set at the wrong temperature and their contents spoiled. We are grateful to A.P. Moller for allowing us to reproduce an article from their newsletter ‘Maersk Post’ which illustrates a positive effect of refrigeration.

Museum Collection saved

Normally the Super Freezer containers are used for the transport of fish, but that they may also be used for pest control has hardly ever been considered. However, this was the case at Moesgaard Museum in Jutland where beetles were found last year in part of the museum’s ethnographic collection. The beetles made large bore holes in the leather, wood and paper objects and, despite the fact that the museum sprayed them with all sorts of pesticides, it failed to exterminate the vermin. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to freeze the objects to –35oC as this kills all kinds of insects and their eggs. But even though Moesgaard Museum has two ordinary deep freezers, it would have been an impossible task to freeze-disinfect the large number of objects. The museum therefore approached Maersk Line and borrowed Super Freezer container for treatment of those objects that were most affected. One week in a –35oC cold Maersk reefer container was too much for the usually tough beetles and so the life of the museum objects has been secured. The advantage of the method is that traces of pesticide on the delicate objects are completely avoided.