A federal judge has ordered a ship to stay in port in New Jersey because of a dispute over a shipment of mushy bananas.
Del Monte Fresh Produce filed a lawsuit Thursday over a shipment of 110,000 cartons of bananas from Guatemala that arrived Monday at its facility in Gloucester City, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.
The produce company is seeking $1.5 million and requested the ship, the Green Brazil, be arrested, or not allowed to leave the area.
The suit claims that the ship didn't maintain the right temperature for the bananas and that some of the bananas were "in a distressed state of rip and turning."
U.S. Magistrate Ann Marie Donio agreed to detain the vessel just before it was scheduled to leave.
The Courier-Post reports the ship is likely to be allowed to leave once its owners provide a letter of credit. The newspaper says the owners could not be reached for comment.
