In less than a week, Paranaguá contains the Yang Ming Tip Top ship – with a capacity of 12,700 TEUs, and set a handling record at the MSC Ajaccio
In less than a week, TCP – the company that manages the Paranaguá Container Terminal, registered two records in ship operations. The first concerns the Dica Top container ship, owned by Taiwanese shipowner Yang Ming, the largest in terms of shipping capacity already dispatched through the terminal, with 12,726 TEUs (measure equivalent to a 20-foot container). The second is the movement record in a single vessel with 3,549 movements in the MSC Ajaccio, operating a total of 5,970 TEUs.
According to Thomas Lima, Commercial and Institutional Director at TCP, the records consolidate the role that the Terminal holds in Brazilian foreign trade. “The performance demanded by the market for the operation of these large ships requires modern structures and very high level professionals. With constant investments, we keep the availability of berths high with 1,099 meters of pier and operational draft of 12.10 meters”, he says.
Yang Ming Tip Top
The Yang Ming Tip Top vessel is 332.2 meters long, 48.2 meters wide (mouth), 1,000 outlets for refrigerated containers, and came to Paranaguá on its first trip to Brazil. With a capacity of up to 12,726 TEUs, this was the largest vessel in this category to dock at TCP, on July 30th. Prior to that, the Seaspan Harrier of shipowner ONE held the brand in the Terminal, with capacity for up to 11,923 TEUs.
“This allows ships like the Yang Ming Tip Top, on an export route, to leave Paranaguá loaded with sufficient volume to ensure the shipowner’s competitiveness – in particular, with products such as meat, wood and cellulose, which are the main commodities transported in our terminal”, explains the director.
Other large ships that have already passed through TCP are the Hyundai Loyalty, which measures 339.62 meters in length and 45.6 meters in width, and the MOL Beacon, which is 339.9 meters in length and 48.3 meters in width. By way of comparison, the Maracanã stadium is, end to end, 317 meters long in its longest axis. This means that the Terminal dock has enough space for 3.4 Maracanã stadiums side by side.
MSC Ajaccio
The ship MSC Ajaccio, which is destined for the ports of the Mediterranean Sea, arrived in Paraná on August 5th with import products such as automotive and chemical parts, and brought to the port loaded refrigerated cargo such as meat and commodities (beans, corn, between others). During one operation, 3,549 movements were carried out, the largest number ever made in a single vessel by TCP. For the brand, the Terminal used five STS (Ship to Shore) cranes simultaneously.
According to Thomas Lima, massive operations like this will pass in the coming years. “Demand is increasing and shipowners are developing with the tendency to invest in bigger and bigger ones. In this context, a TCP presents itself as an option worthy of a hub port and a reference for other Brazilian ports. With the capacity to receive boats of up to 366 meters in length, our attractiveness makes it more and more natural” he concludes.
Prior to MSC Ajaccio, the ship with the highest number of movements in a single operation at the Paranaguá Container Terminal was the CMA CGM Rio Grande, with 3,094 movements, operated in March this year.
