The consortium of Daikin Reefer, Hernan Cooperation, and Yidu Group successfully completed the first live sea shipment of Malaysian durian to Dalian, China in 12 days. This two-ton shipment was inspected in Dalian on September 19, and its quality was comparable to air freight.
Challenges and Solutions
Durian is one of the valuable fruits of Southeast Asia, which is in high demand in China. In 2025, China's imports of durian reached 1.87 million tons with a value of 7.5 billion dollars. Due to harvesting challenges, air freight remained the only acceptable method for transporting fresh durian to Chinese customers. Meanwhile, air freight is costly and has limited capacity.
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Daikin Technology for Fruit Transportation
Daikin, in collaboration with Hernan, launched a comprehensive research program on transportation technology and post-harvest management of tree durian. In this shipment, Daikin's Controlled Atmosphere (Active CA) technology was used, which reduces the fruit's respiration by over 50% and helps maintain fruit quality. This system also maintains positive pressure inside the container and prevents the entry of ambient air.
During transport, Daikin's custom control logic adjusted the multiple purity injection points, fruit respiration profile, and box stiffness to ensure the best possible quality upon arrival in Dalian.
Datuk Anna Teo, CEO of Hernan Cooperation, referred to this shipment as an important milestone and added that this logistical solution eliminates dependence on air transport and creates more business opportunities for exporting durian to the large Chinese market. Niqman Rafi M. Sahar, trade advisor at the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, also emphasized that Malaysia's agricultural exports will benefit from this new advantage.
Goh Ah Hat, CEO of Global Marketing and Services at Daikin Reefer, thanked all parties involved in this important shipment and stated that this shift from air to sea transport will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of this fruit.
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