Surabaya, Indonesia - Offshore Fishing Vessel Cold Chain System
Project Basic Information
Shanghai Kendall Refrigeration has undertaken the Surabaya Offshore Fishing Vessel Cold Storage Project, creating a marine-onshore integrated cold chain system for a client in Indonesia’s offshore fishery sector. The system encompasses vessel-mounted quick-freezing rooms, refrigeration rooms and a 500 m² onshore supporting cold storage, forming a full closed-loop from catch to market. All indicators meet international maritime standards, and the project has passed Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) certification.
| Location | Application | Contractor | Purpose |
| Surabaya, Indonesia | Cold chain storage for offshore fishing vessels & onshore supporting cold storage | Shanghai Kendall Refrigeration Co., Ltd. | Quick freezing of seafood, long-term low-temperature refrigeration, offshore preservation |
| Certification | Quick-freezing Rooms | Refrigeration Rooms | Onshore Storage |
| Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) -recognized by EU & global maritime authorities | 4 rooms, design -35℃ (actual up to -38℃), 6 tons per room in 8 hours | 4 rooms, -25℃, steel finned tubes, 24/7 operation | 500 m², -23℃, aluminum finned tubes, barrel pump liquid supply |
Customer Core Requirements
Offshore fishing vessels operate in one of the most demanding refrigeration scenarios: high temperature, high humidity, salt spray and continuous vibration, combined with round-the-clock operation during long voyages. The client’s requirements extend far beyond conventional cold storage.
• Deep quick-freezing capacity: Seafood must pass the ice crystal formation zone rapidly to minimize cell damage and preserve texture, moisture and nutrition — the difference between a premium product and a commodity-grade one.
• Marine-grade reliability: Equipment must withstand salt spray corrosion, vessel vibration and continuous high-load operation over extended offshore trips without failure or performance degradation.
• International maritime compliance: The vessel must carry authoritative classification society certification to legally navigate global waters and satisfy port state control inspection requirements worldwide.
• Marine-onshore seamless transfer: After returning to port, seafood must be quickly transferred into onshore cold storage without a temperature gap, preventing quality loss during the transshipment window.
Targeted Solutions
We designed a marine-onshore integrated system with distinct technical strategies for vessel-mounted and onshore modules, each addressing the specific operational challenges of offshore fishing and port-side storage.
Vessel Quick-freezing System - Aluminum Flat Plate Shelves
Four professional quick-freezing rooms achieve -38°C deep-freezing, each processing 6 tons of seafood in 8 hours. Aluminum flat plate shelves provide uniform heat exchange, space-saving layout and easy cleaning. Rationale: seafood quality depends on rapidly passing the ice crystal formation zone; slow freezing enlarges ice crystals, rupturing cell walls and draining moisture upon thawing. The -38°C environment and high-surface-area aluminum shelves accelerate this transition, preserving original texture and moisture for high-value species such as tuna, shrimp and crab.
Vessel Refrigeration Rooms - Steel Finned Tubes & Fusheng Units
Four refrigeration rooms at -25°C use steel finned tubes for durability and stable performance under marine conditions. The system is powered by Fusheng low-temperature units paired with barrel pump liquid supply. Rationale: offshore voyages last weeks to months with no shore-side maintenance access; any compressor failure means cargo loss and voyage interruption. Fusheng units deliver high cooling capacity, low noise and long service life suited to continuous 24/7 high-load operation, while barrel pump supply ensures uniform refrigerant distribution and stable pressure, eliminating temperature fluctuation throughout long voyages.
Marine-grade Anti-corrosion & Anti-vibration Design
The entire system adopts marine-grade anti-corrosion and anti-vibration design: quick-freezing rooms use lightweight, fast-conducting, corrosion-resistant aluminum flat plate shelves; refrigeration rooms employ sturdy steel finned tubes with high durability. The whole system is vibration-resistant, leak-proof and corrosion-resistant. Rationale: salt spray accelerates metal corrosion tenfold compared to land environments, and vessel vibration subjects components to constant mechanical stress; conventional land-grade equipment degrades rapidly under these combined forces, risking refrigerant leakage and system failure mid-ocean.
Onshore Supporting Cold Storage - Barrel Pump Liquid Supply
A 500 m² onshore refrigerated warehouse at -23°C, using aluminum finned tubes for even cooling and lower energy consumption, with barrel pump liquid supply for stable and efficient operation. Rationale: after weeks at sea, seafood arriving at port must enter low-temperature storage immediately; any temperature gap during transshipment accelerates degradation in already-frozen products. The onshore warehouse provides seamless handoff from vessel to storage, preserving quality from catch through to market.
Solution Advantages & Customer Value
• Premium seafood quality: -38°C deep freezing rapidly passes the ice crystal zone, maintaining original flavor, texture and appearance, directly raising selling prices for tuna, shrimp and other high-value species.
• Reduced voyage loss: Full-process low temperature from departure through return significantly lowers the seafood loss rate that erodes profitability on long offshore trips.
• Global navigation compliance: RS certification — recognized by EU Regulation (EC) No. 391/2009 and EN 17020 — ensures the vessel can legally sail global waters and pass port state inspections without restriction.
• Marine-grade durability: Anti-corrosion, anti-vibration and anti-salt-spray design ensures equipment withstands the harshest ocean conditions, extending service life and reducing mid-voyage failure risk.
• Cold chain continuity: The marine-onshore integrated system ensures seafood stays under low-temperature protection from catch through freezing, refrigeration, transshipment and sales, eliminating quality gaps at every transfer point.
Contractor Capabilities & Outlook
The Surabaya project is a representative achievement of Kendall Refrigeration in overseas marine cold storage, offshore fishery cold chain and internationally certified maritime projects. Our core capabilities include:
• Deep expertise in marine cold storage: years of experience designing and building vessel-mounted quick-freezing and refrigeration systems that withstand extreme ocean conditions.
• International certification qualifications: successfully passing RS certification, compliant with ISO 9001 quality management and recognized by EU maritime regulations.
• Marine-onshore integrated solution design: delivering closed-loop cold chain systems covering onboard freezing, refrigeration and onshore storage in a single project.
• Overseas project execution capability: managing international projects from design through certification, construction and commissioning with cross-border coordination.
In the future, Kendall Refrigeration will continue to deepen the global fishery and marine cold storage market. With higher technical standards, stricter construction requirements and more complete certification qualifications, we will provide professional, reliable and high-quality cold storage engineering services for global offshore fishery, shipbuilding and cold chain logistics clients, helping Chinese refrigeration technology go global and serve the world.
