Hamburg announces that the cabotage fleet has once again gained a new member. The new container ship “Bartolomeu Dias” was christened on 14 April 2015 at the TECON Terminal in the southern-Brazilian port of Rio Grande. The ship’s sponsor is Luciana Pereira Quartiero. Her husband, Jacques Maggi Quartiero, is vice president of Camil Alimentos S.A. Also present at the christening in the state of Rio Grande do Sul were Dr Ottmar Gast, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd, and Julian Thomas, CEO for Region South America East Coast for Hamburg Süd and Alianҫa.
With a container slot capacity of around 4,800 TEU (including 600 reefer slots), the “Bartolomeu Dias” is the largest ship that Alianҫa has ever deployed in its Brazilian coastal service. The ship carries the name of the Portuguese seafarer and discoverer Bartolomeu Dias, who discovered Brazil on 22 April 1500 while serving as a captain in Pedro Alvares Cabral’s fleet.
In the course of the modernisation and expansion of the cabotage fleet, four new 3,800 TEU ships set sail in 2013 and 2014, also bearing the names of discoverers significant to South America. All newbuildings are setting new standards in Brazilian cabotage in terms of capacity and environmental friendliness. In the middle of the year, Alianҫa will christen the “Vicente Pinzón”, the identical sister ship to the “Bartolomeu Dias”.
Rio Grande is an important port for Hamburg Süd and Alianҫa. Eight liner services offered by the shipping group, of which two are cabotage, call in Rio Grande weekly. Furthermore, Alianҫa maintains two feeder services to Argentina from there . Rio Grande is a port of call for Hamburg Süd and Alianҫa ships around 500 times a year.
Technical data of the “Bartolomeu Dias”:
- Capacity: 57,818 tdw
- Container slot capacity: 4,848 TEU
- Reefer slots: 600
- Length overall: 255.0 m
- Length between perpendiculars: 242.0 m
- Width: 37.3 m
- Draught max.: 12.5 m
- Speed: 21.5 kn
- Main engine output: 26,160 kW
