Early indications from China customs inspections are that several of the containers full of cherries have to be destroyed that are on board the long-delayed Maersk-chartered container ship Saltoro. The container ship finally arrived at the Nansha Port in China on 17 February 2025, after roughly two months at sea with about 1318 containers of cherries on board. Industry insiders in Chile and China say the first couple of containers inspected have been turned down. "So far I got news of only five containers that went to inspection from the Saltoro, all need to be destroyed. So far it does not look good as given the social media buzz about potentially harmful cherries during the season, it is very likely that Chinese customs will be very strict on the inspections."

One of the Maersk Cherry Express ships with Chilean cherries at the start of the 2024/25 season.

This long-delayed ship, part of the Cherry Express, that had engine failure was carrying around 5 million boxes of cherries on board. Chilean and Chinese industry insiders said these cherries could've fetched between $60-$130 million in the Chinese market if it all arrived before the critical Chinese New Year sales period that is now long past. Industry insiders said they were informed that the ship would reach China on February 6, but further delays ensued. This big delay coupled with 51% higher cherry export volumes from Chile to China has caused an unprecedented crisis for the Chilean cherry industry.

In a Tuesday night (18 February) update from China, the following information was shared: "The inspected containers so far are in poor condition, showing signs of thawing and mould. Some containers have been sent for inspection and disposal, pending results. The inspected containers have been explicitly denied entry into the inspection site for survey. The disposal plan and site are currently being studied and finalised by the relevant departments. All containers on this vessel are subject to a 100% inspection rate. As of now, none of the containers from the vessel have been released. Customs has inspected around 10 containers so far and has identified severe quality issues. Additionally, customs is coordinating with relevant government agencies, including the Ministry of Health, the Food Safety Department, and other experts, to conduct further inspections and arrange laboratory testing. The cargo from this vessel must wait for further discussions and decisions by customs and related authorities before any further action can be taken."

A Chilean exporter, who has their sales manager currently in China to oversee the matter said: "We got a notice from our clients that customs is requesting to inspect all containers from that vessel. We have got info for the first couple of containers that got inspected and both were rejected by customs due to their poor condition. It is not surprising given that the cherries should be past their most optimistic shelf life expectancy."

Another Chinese importer noted: "There are still a lot of things going on. China customs have inspected two or three containers, but not been much feedback yet. It seems one container is not super bad and the other one is really bad, but we're still waiting for more feedback."

Other industry members contacted said they are keenly waiting to receive more inspection reports. They are also waiting to hear more from the shipping line about insurance claims etc.

The Saltoro, which is sailing under a Singapore flag, is the sister ship of the Dali container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the U.S. last year March (2024). The FBI also boarded the Saltaro last year in September to carry out inspections. Both container ships, the Maersk Saltoro and Dali are managed by the Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group.