Dole Ocean Cargo Express is the name of the transportation division of Dole — the world’s largest producer of bananas and pineapples, and also a producer of packaged salads and vegetables. The Jacksonville, Florida-based company dates back to the late 1800s, when Standard Fruit Co., the predecessor to Dole Food Co., began shipping bananas into North America.

Dole Ocean Cargo was incorporated in 1993 to handle the large volume of fruit shipments. Dole manages its own supply chain with its fleet of 10 vessels and carrying capacity of 9,178 TEUs. The company also provides containerized cargo shipping services to other firms.

Dole Ocean Cargo transports cargo between the United States, Latin America, and Europe. Service routes for Dole vessels cover points on the US East Coast, US Gulf, US West Coast, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru and Antwerp.

Dole Ocean Cargo Express was the 18th-ranked container carrier in U.S containerized import trade in 2013, with volume of 220,154 TEUs, down 2 percent year-over-year, giving it market share of 1.2 percent. It was No. 32  in U.S. containerized export trade in 2013, with volume of 49,228 TEUs, up 4.9 percent year-over-year and market share of 0.4 percent. For more carrier rankings see the JOC’s Top 40 Container Carriers special topic.

Key Coverage

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Dole Invests $165 Million in Reefer Container Ships

Dole Signs Lease at Port of San Diego