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“In numerical terms, cryogenic tank containers make up only a small part (probably less than 2%) of the world ISO tank container fleet, but they have come to the fore in supporting international efforts to meet the huge demand for oxygen caused by the recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, particularly in India.
Cryogenic tank containers are able to maintain their cargoes at very low temperatures (minus 183°C in the case of oxygen) and are designed to transport oxygen and other gases in liquid form. They have the capacity to carry 20,000 – 22,000 litres (18-19 metric tonnes) of liquid oxygen each, an amount sufficient to keep 1,500-1,700 hospitalised coronavirus sufferers alive for one day, and have thus contributed significantly to reducing the shortage of oxygen across India.

To help meet the surge in demand for oxygen, Belgium-based Bofort, one of the world’s leading lessors of cryogenic ISO tank containers, has made available 15 of its 20ft T75 cryogenic tanks in Antwerp in Belgium and Cape Town in South Africa, from where they have been airlifted empty to an airbase at Panagarh, Kolkata. From the Panagarh airbase they have been moved to liquid oxygen production plants and then transported by rail and road to nearby hospitals.

Ton Verbrugge, managing director of Bofort’s tank container leasing business, comments that, as often in the multifaceted development of containerisation around the world, the key benefit offered by his company’s cryogenic tanks is that their deployment provides an immediate and significant boost to supply chain capacity and distribution flexibility in an area where it is urgently needed.”

Source: Container Trade Watch – May 2021 – http://harrison-consulting.org/