Tecon Santos, one of the largest and most efficient container terminals in Latin America, operated by Santos Brasil in the port of Santos, Brazil, received the inaugural port call of a new long-haul service on 13 June.
This service features the largest container vessels that will regularly arrive on the East Coast of South America.
In partnership with CMA CGM and Cosco, Tecon Santos will receive weekly visits from a fleet of 12 Latamax class vessels. These ships are 336 meters long, 51 meters wide, and have a maximum draft of 14.5 meters.
The first voyage was made by the vessel Cosco Argentina, which handled 2,000 containers at Tecon Santos. It is expected that around 5,000 containers will be processed each time these vessels berth at the terminal.
The Cosco Argentina travelled from Asia to Rio de Janeiro, stopped in Santos, continued to Itapoá (SC) and Paranaguá (PR), and then returned to Santos and Rio de Janeiro before heading back to Asia.
Santos Brasil has been preparing for years to efficiently accommodate this type of vessel at Tecon Santos, which is experiencing rapid growth. The terminal’s capacity is set to increase from the current 2.4 million TEUs to 2.6 million TEUs by the end of this year.
Overall, the company is investing around US$480 million (R$2.6 billion) to boost Tecon Santos’ capacity to 3 million TEUs. This year alone, between US$46 million (R$250 million) and US$55 million (R$300 million) will be invested in the terminal.
According to Danilo Ramos, Commercial Director of Port Operations at Santos Brasil, the new service represents a milestone for Brazilian foreign trade, as Latamax class vessels have approximately 70% more capacity than the vessels currently circulating in the country.
Ramos added, “We are happy to be the terminal best prepared at the Port of Santos to receive and operate two import and export calls of this magnitude weekly, a direct result of the Company’s strategy of anticipating demand and expanding the terminal to comfortably accommodate the progressive increase in the size of vessels.”
