The ports of Paraná are consolidated as the route of container ships with large cargo capacity in Latin America. In the last two months, the Paranaguá Container Terminal received five vessels with a capacity to load almost 12 thousand container units, equivalent to 20 feet. A sixth ship of this size arrives at the terminal in Paraná, this Saturday (31).
“Paraná strengthens its position as a logistics hub and has state-of-the-art infrastructure to meet the worldwide demand for large ships. This is only possible thanks to investments, public and private, in dredging works, expansion of quays and equipment ”, highlights the CEO of the public company that manages the ports in the State, Luiz Fernando Garcia
This is the first time that the ship Kota Pusaka has docked at the Port of Paranaguá. The vessel has a Hong Kong flag, measures 330 meters long (LOA) with 48.2 meters wide (beam) and is capable of carrying 11,923 container units (TEUs).
According to the Director of Operations at Portos do Paraná, Luiz Teixeira da Silva Júnior, ships with greater transport capacity need infrastructure and operational efficiency, in addition to greater demand and cargo.
“It is the gain in scale. Loading more containers on a single ship, freight costs are reduced, which reduces users’ expenses and, consequently, attracts more cargo to Paranaguá. The trend of larger ships coming makes more exporters and importers look for Porto to move their containers ”, says the director.
OPERATION – According to the cargo operator, the company TCP, there will be almost 1,300 movements, between loading and unloading of containers, at this stop of the ship, in Paranaguá. The flow is well above the average, which is usually around 600 movements per mooring.
The terminal is located in a geographically privileged position, in the center of the main logistical axis for cargo inputs and outputs in the country. TCP is already authorized to operate the New Panamax Ships (368m x 52m), being the first terminal in Brazil with this permission.
HISTORY – The other five vessels operating in Paranaguá, recently, with the same cargo capacity, were Kota Pemimpin, Seaspan Harrier, Seaspan Osprey, Paranagua Express, and Montevideo Express.
The largest container ship to dock at the Port of Paranaguá was Hyundai Loyalty, in May 2018. The ship is 339.62 meters long and 45.6 meters wide, but the cargo capacity is for 8,600 TEUs.
This year, the largest ships were received in June: the MOL Beauty and MOL Beacon, both 336.9 meters long and 48.3 meters wide and with capacity for up to 10,000 TEUs.
EXPECTATION – The port of Paraná should receive even more vessels like these, after the demolition works. The submarine explosion of the rock mass, known as Pedra da Palangana, was signed in September. The removal of the material will allow the deepening of the access channel to up to 14.60 meters. With this, the port of Paraná guarantees greater safety in navigation, which avoids accidents and increases competitiveness.
The work will be fully funded by Portos do Paraná, which invests R $ 23.2 million in services. The estimated gain is 1 meter deep, equivalent to an extra 120 containers per ship.
TCP – The Paranaguá Container Terminal has 1,099 meters of docks, where two 366 meters long vessels can operate simultaneously. The storage structure was also expanded to keep up with the demand of the giant ships. There are approximately 490 thousand square meters of area, with an annual handling capacity of 2.5 million TEUs / year.
With regard to equipment, TCP has eight cranes (STS portainers), six of which have full operational capacity to service the New Panamax Ships. Two of these pieces of equipment were received by TCP last year, the largest in Brazil today, and can operate with a productivity of up to 45 movements per hour (MPH), each.
Source: Portos do Paraná
