Stevedores worked through the night at the Port of Tauranga, loading 6114 pallets of kiwifruit on to the largest vessel Zespri has ever chartered for Asia.

Today the Ice Glacier V8 is due to cross the harbour to the container berth where at least a further 1100 pallets in 55 containers will be loaded on deck, making up a total shipment of at least 7214 pallets or 1.7 million trays of fruit.

Teams work through the night to load kiwifruit pallets onto the Ice Glacier at the Port of Tauranga.

Trucks bringing kiwifruit from packhouses line up last night at the Port of Tauranga, waiting to be unloaded.

Bruce Nisbet, director of Oceanic Charting Specialists who arranges Zespri charters, says it's possible the Ice Glacier may load even more containers today, taking her total cargo to closer to 7500 pallets.

The vessel was loaded by port logistics company ISO Ltd, and every pallet of fruit was electronically scanned and recorded in real time by staff from Kiwifruit Logistics, before being hoisted into the holds.

The Ice Glacier will discharge the kiwifruit in Japan and China at the ports of Tokyo, Osaka, Shanghai and Tianjin.

To celebrate the record-breaking shipment, shipping company Fresh Carriers invited Zespri chairman Peter McBride, CEO Lain Jager, representatives from shipping agents, the stevedoring company and other guests on board to watch the loading late yesterday afternoon.

The previous record shipment to Asia was made in June 2007 when 5144 pallets and 46 containers of kiwifruit were shipped from the Port of Tauranga.

Bruce says the Ice Glacier should have made her first recording-breaking trip to Asia in April, but had to off-load 1.7 million trays of fruit after small deposits of grease were discovered on China-supplied Plix pocket packs into which the fruit was packed.

'When we told Captain Valentin Polyuluarh that we had to unload his vessel, his only comment was 'quality is everything” which was remarkable,” says Bruce.

Shipping company Fresh Carriers invited guests, including Zespri, shipping agents and ISO Ltd representatives aboard the Ice Glazier yesterday evening to celebrate the vessel's record kiwifruit shipment.

That approach to quality, he says, is reflected in the excellent condition of the Ice Glazier, which was built in Demark in 1988.

Mike Knowles, shipping manager at ZespriInternational, says the use of a ship the size of Ice Glazier to take fruit to Asia reflects the huge growth in crop volumes this season. Traditionally vessels this size have carried fruit to European markets.

The late start to this season's harvest means being able to load more fruit onto vessels will ensure Zespri meets market demand, he says.

Mike says other more modern vessels than Ice Glacier are able to make the trip to Asia up to two days quicker, giving Zespri an extra two days to load fruit in New Zealand, which is a significant advantage in a late season such as this one.

Stevedores from ISO Ltd loading Ice Glazier at the Port of Tauranga.