First time in Brazil, the Grande Abidjan is the largest vessel of the Grimaldi carrier to dock in the country.
The Italian ship Grande Abidjan, from Grimaldi, berths at the Paranaguá Container Terminal (TCP) this Thursday (23). It is the largest Ro-Ro (Roll on – Roll off) vessel ever docked at the Port of Paranaguá, supporting 71,000 tons of cargo. The previously larger, the Italian Grande Buenos Aires, also from Grimaldi, has a capacity of 56 thousand tons.
A curiosity of the Ro-Ro type ships is their capacity to transport rolling cargo. Depending on the model and size, the roll-on cargoes can be defined as project cargo: goods with dimensions or weights that do not fit the traditional container standards. During this call at TCP, for example, light vehicles will be loaded, which will have access to the ship via a ramp from the terminal quay.
According to TCP’s shipping lines commercial manager, Carolina Brown, “one of the greatest challenges in logistics today is the transportation of project cargo, because they are complex operations that require reliable handling and expertise. TCP has a diverse portfolio of services, specialized teams, operational resources and dedicated equipment that allow us to handle this type of cargo”.
Carolina Brown says that investments in teams, structure and technology have allowed great advances in the transportation of these kinds of cargoes. “We have expanded the teams, which in 2022 allowed us to break several records,” he highlights. One of these records was in terms of productivity: in October, TCP performed 202 movements per hour on a single vessel.
Another highlight was the berthing of the largest container vessel in the terminal’s history, the APL Yangshan, with 347m from end to end and 45m wide. “Portos do Paraná has invested in the expansion of the draft and the removal of the restrictions involving berthing and undocking of vessels during the past years, which allowed us to receive increasingly larger vessels. TCP, in turn, is continually investing in the modernization and adjustment of its structures to meet our clients’ demands,” explains Brown.
About the Great Abidjan
With a capacity for 3,500 light vehicles and 2,500 lane meters (space to accommodate Ro-Ros such as trucks and buses), the vessel is 36m wide and 236m long. It holds about 500 containers on deck per trip. The vessel, which left the Ivory Coast and passed through Brazil for the first time, will continue on to Mexico.
