# Dutch onion container loading: how onions ship from Rotterdam, Antwerp and Vlissingen > Dutch onions ship to West Africa in 40-foot reefer or ventilated containers, up to about 28 tonnes each, or palletized on reefer vessels from Vlissingen. _Updated Oct 15, 2026._ Dutch onions bound for Dakar and the rest of West Africa load one of two ways. Container programs fill 40-foot boxes, either reefers run on fresh air or ventilated containers, at Rotterdam, Antwerp or Vlissingen. The largest programs load pallets straight into the holds of conventional reefer vessels, which is the Vlissingen trade. A 40-foot high-cube reefer holds up to about 28 tonnes of onions in 25 kg bags by volume, and a vessel takes several thousand pallets at a time. The price on the lane is the same statistic whichever way the onions travel. [The export page](/export/benelux) carries the declared export value per tonne, free on board at the Dutch or Belgian border, from Eurostat's monthly trade statistics. It is a monthly customs average across every shipment on the lane, not a container or freight quote. [Table: Benelux onion export prices](https://knowyouronions.news/export/benelux) ([data](https://knowyouronions.news/export/benelux.md)) ## Reefer or ventilated container The Transport Information Service, the cargo-care reference published by the German Insurance Association, lists two ways to containerize onions ([TIS, onions](https://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/gemuese/zwiebeln/zwiebeln-htm/)). As chilled cargo they go in refrigerated containers with a fresh-air supply. As general cargo they go in actively ventilated containers, or in open-sided or open-top boxes. Both answer the same problem. An onion keeps respiring in transit, and the air around it has to carry away moisture and carbon dioxide, which TIS caps at 0.5 percent by volume. Poor ventilation is how a load ends up with neck rot. For a refrigerated box, TIS gives travel temperatures of 0°C (32°F) or 2 to 4°C (about 36 to 39°F), never below freezing, and 60 to 80 air changes an hour with fresh air supplied continuously. Humidity is set against temperature: 75 to 80 percent relative humidity near 0°C, 70 percent at 8 to 10°C and 65 percent at 15°C. A ventilated general-cargo box needs about 25 air changes an hour. Above 30°C (86°F) the onions are at risk, and above 40°C (104°F) they take heat injury that ends in rot. ## How many onions fit in a box The arithmetic takes two published specifications. Maersk lists its 40-foot high-cube reefer at 67.5 cubic meters of internal space with a maximum payload of 29,480 kg ([Maersk reefer specifications](https://www.maersk.com/~/media_sc9/maersk/local-information/files/africa/south-africa/important-information/container-type-and-sizes/reefer-equipment-specifications-updated.pdf)). TIS gives a stowage factor of 2.40 cubic meters per tonne for onions in 25 kg jute bags. - 67.5 m³ ÷ 2.40 m³ per tonne = 28.1 tonnes, inside the 29.5-tonne payload limit - 28.1 tonnes at 25 kg a bag = about 1,125 bags - Maersk's 20-foot reefer, 27 m³, works out to about 11 tonnes, or 450 bags That is a ceiling set by volume. Pallets, the airflow space a load needs and the road weight limits at each end all take a share, so a booked load sits somewhat below it. At the latest Netherlands to West Africa export figure, €375 a tonne in August 2026, 28 tonnes of onions carry a declared value of about €10,500. That is the onions loaded on board and nothing more. Ocean freight, the container, insurance and the charges at Dakar all come on top, which is the difference between an FOB price and a CFR or CIF one ([what FOB means](/guides/what-does-fob-mean)). **Estimate the delivered price.** The [Dutch onion CIF Dakar estimator](/tools/dutch-onion-cif-dakar-estimator) starts from the same export value, €375 a tonne in August 2026, and the same 28-tonne load, adds your sea freight and insurance, and returns an indicative CIF Dakar price per tonne, per 25 kg bag and per container. ## Conventional reefer vessels out of Vlissingen The biggest programs skip the container. At Vlissingen, in the Dutch province of Zeeland, onions are loaded as pallets into the holds of conventional reefer vessels. Supermaritime, which handles that trade at the port, told FreshPlaza in August 2025 that 4,000 to 4,500 pallets fit below deck, that a ship takes about two days to load, and that the season runs from August into late December or early January, with Dakar the main destination ([FreshPlaza, 2025](https://www.freshplaza.com/north-america/article/9760384/cooperation-with-packing-stations-and-exporters-streamlines-onion-flow-through-the-terminal/)). Breadbox Chartering, which charters reefer ships southbound on the route, said in 2020 that its ships reach Dakar five to six days out of the Netherlands, without the stopovers and terminal handling of a container service ([FreshPlaza, 2020](https://www.freshplaza.com/north-america/article/9231169/potatoes-and-onions-on-reefer-ships-to-west-africa-the-container-shipping-companies-were-none-the-wiser-at-first/)). That is what the trade means by quoting onions by vessel, breakbulk or bulk. The onions are not poured loose into a hold the way grain is: the packaging TIS lists is bags, crates, boxes and cartons, and the Vlissingen terminal handles them on pallets. A vessel is priced per tonne on a shipload and a container per box, so the two quotes cannot be set side by side line for line. ## Rotterdam, Antwerp or Vlissingen All three ports load onions for West Africa, and Dutch exporters sell from all three. Poton Overseas, for one, describes itself as close to the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Vlissingen and ready for reefer and conventional shipping ([poton.nl](https://www.poton.nl/)). Rotterdam and Antwerp are the big container ports. Vlissingen, part of North Sea Port, is where the conventional vessels load, and it carries containers on the lane too: in 2017 Zeeland Seaports reported onion exports of 300 to 350 twenty-foot container equivalents a week at the peak of the season ([FreshPlaza, 2017](https://www.freshplaza.com/article/2173573/onion-exports-putting-zeeland-seaports-on-map/)). The port changes the logistics, not the basis of the price. FOB at any of the three means the onions loaded on board, with the sea leg still to come. Freight is a separate market with its own moves, and [how freight changes the delivered price](/guides/how-freight-changes-the-delivered-price) walks through that split on the US side. For the lane itself, the Senegal import window and the European size grades, see [Dutch onion FOB prices to Dakar](/guides/benelux-to-west-africa-onion-trade). ## Related data + guides - [Benelux onion export prices](https://knowyouronions.news/export/benelux) - [Dutch onion FOB price to Dakar](https://knowyouronions.news/guides/benelux-to-west-africa-onion-trade) - [How freight changes the delivered price](https://knowyouronions.news/guides/how-freight-changes-the-delivered-price) - [What does FOB mean in shipping and in produce?](https://knowyouronions.news/guides/what-does-fob-mean) - [Dutch onion CIF Dakar price estimator](https://knowyouronions.news/tools/dutch-onion-cif-dakar-estimator) ## Common questions ### How many tonnes of onions fit in a 40ft container? Up to about 28 tonnes by volume in a 40-foot high-cube reefer. Maersk lists that box at 67.5 cubic meters inside with a 29,480 kg maximum payload, and onions in 25 kg jute bags stow at 2.40 cubic meters per tonne according to the cargo insurers' Transport Information Service. That is about 1,125 bags. Pallets, airflow space and road weight limits bring a booked load somewhat below the ceiling. ### What reefer settings are used for onions? The cargo insurers' Transport Information Service lists travel temperatures of 0°C or 2 to 4°C (32°F, or about 36 to 39°F), never below freezing, with 60 to 80 air changes an hour and a continuous fresh-air supply. It pairs humidity with temperature: 75 to 80 percent near 0°C, 70 percent at 8 to 10°C and 65 percent at 15°C. Carbon dioxide in the box should stay under 0.5 percent by volume. ### What does shipping Dutch onions by vessel or breakbulk mean? The onions travel as pallets in the holds of a conventional reefer vessel instead of inside a container. At Vlissingen a ship takes 4,000 to 4,500 pallets below deck and about two days to load, according to the terminal operator Supermaritime. A vessel is priced per tonne on the shipload, not per box. ### How long does a ship take from the Netherlands to Dakar? Five to six days on a direct conventional reefer vessel, according to the charter operator Breadbox Chartering, speaking to FreshPlaza in 2020. The same operator contrasted that with the stopovers and terminal handling of a container service. ### What is a container of Dutch onions worth? The declared export value on the Netherlands to West Africa lane was €375 a tonne in August 2026, free on board at the border. A 28-tonne load at that figure is about €10,500 of onions, before freight, the box and the charges at Dakar. It is a monthly customs average across all shipments, not a quote. --- Canonical URL: https://knowyouronions.news/guides/dutch-onion-container-loading