Supermarkets should have fresh produce today and fully stocked shelves by next week.

The island started to run out of fresh produce after the Oleander cargo ship was marooned in New Jersey due to a breakdown earlier this week.

But repairs to the main engine of the container ship were completed on Tuesday and the vessel is expected to arrive in Bermuda on Sunday morning.

Warren Jones, CEO of Stevedoring Service’s parent company Polaris Holding, which runs Hamilton docks, said the firm’s team was on standby to unload the Oleander when it arrives on Sunday.

Mr Jones said: “Our guys understand their commitment to the community of Bermuda whenever a ship is in port — whatever time it comes alongside they are on-deck.

“The only difference with Sunday is that she will arrive at 8am instead of 5.30pm and the team will put 16 hours on the boat as opposed to the normal five hours on a Sunday.

“The other change will be that Monday is Labour Day. However, if the Oleander arrives as scheduled, the perishables will be off and delivered before the end of daylight on Sunday.”

The Bermuda Islander arrived on the island yesterday morning and helped to restore produce levels in grocery stores.Carlos Veloso, the produce manager at Supermart, said that customers today should expect to see 90 per cent of their usual products.

“Things are starting to look back to normal,” Mr Veloso said.

However, due to the upcoming Labour Day holiday, the supermarket had to resort to air-freight shipments to ensure residents have the food they need for the long weekend.

“We had to fly in lemons. We couldn’t do without lemons on the weekend,” Mr Veloso said.

“The only difference will be the pricing of produce delivered by air. I’m paying seventy dollars for a case of strawberries instead of thirty.

“A few people complain but a lot of people know that there is a boat issue,” Mr Veloso said.

“We’re keeping our margins low and We’re just trying to get by this week.”