First 5,500-TEU ship to call at Brazilian ports

First 5,500-TEU ship to call at Brazilian ports    The port of Suape said it became the first Brazilian port called by a 5,500-TEU containership, when the Suape Container Terminal handled the Hamburg S'd-operated “Monte Rosa.”
   Tecon Suape S. A., operator of the Suape Container Terminal, loaded and offloaded 351 TEUs from the “Monte Rosa” at berth 1, most of which were export products for the European market. Tecon Suape is the Brazilian subsidiary of Manila-based International Container Terminal Services Inc.
   Brazilian ports have long had trouble receiving larger ships due to limitations in depth. “We have a controlling depth of some 15.5 meters to service a vessel like Monte Rosa. We also have the most modern equipment to load and unload containers,” said Pernambuco Gov. Jarbas Vasconcelos.
   The “Monte Rosa” is one of six identical ships being deployed on Hamburg S'd’s weekly Europe/East Coast South America service, which calls Rotterdam, Hamburg, Le Havre, Antwerp, Tilbury, Lisbon, Suape, Sepetiba, Santos, Buenos Aires, Rio Grande, Santos, Sepetiba, Suape, Pecem and back to Rotterdam.