Tecon Santos prepares for weekly service with Latamax-Class vessels

Tecon Santos, one of Latin America’s largest container terminals, witnessed a historic event on June 13 with the inaugural call of a new long-haul service featuring the largest container vessels to sail along the East Coast of South America.

Thanks to a partnership between Cosco and CMA CGM, a fleet of 12 Latamax-class vessels will make weekly calls to Santos Brasil. These ships, measuring 336 meters in length, 51 meters in beam, and with a maximum draft of 14.5 meters, represent a significant boost in capacity.

The Cosco Argentina was the first ship to make this inaugural voyage, carrying 2,600 to Tecon Santos. It is anticipated that each call from these massive vessels will involve the operation of around 5,000 containers at the terminal. The Cosco Argentina’s route begins in Asia, heads to Rio de Janeiro, stops in Santos, then continues to Itapoá and Paranaguá, before returning to Santos and Rio de Janeiro, and finally heading back to Asia.

Santos Brasil has been preparing for years to efficiently handle such significant operations at Tecon Santos. The terminal is undergoing rapid capacity expansion, increasing from its current 2.4 million TEUs to 2.6 million TEUs by the end of this year. Overall, the company is investing approximately R$ 2.6 billion to boost Tecon Santos’s capacity to 3 million TEUs. This year alone, R$ 300 million will be invested in the terminal.

According to Danilo Ramos, Santos Brasil’s Director of Port Operations, the new service marks a pivotal moment for Brazilian foreign trade. The Latamax-class vessels have approximately 70% more capacity than the ships currently operating in the country. “We are pleased that the Port of Santos is the best-equipped terminal to receive and manage two weekly import and export calls of this magnitude. This success is a direct result of our strategy to anticipate demand and expand the terminal to comfortably accommodate the progressive increase in ship size,” stated Ramos.

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