The MV Great Cotonou, the first container-roll-on/roll-off (Con-Ro) vessel offering a direct service from Shanghai to Lagos, berthed at the PTML Terminal on Tuesday.
The ship, operated by global shipping giant Grimaldi Group, cuts transit time to just 27 days without the need for transshipment at intermediary ports.
With the new route, Nigerian traders can now receive not only containerised cargo but also vehicle including cars, vans, trucks, and project cargo on the same vessel.
The Great Cotonou, a G5 class vessel, features a length of 250 meters, a beam of 38 meters, a deadweight of 45,864 tonnes, and can transport 4,700 linear meters of rolling freight, 2,500 Car Equivalent Unit (CEU) and 2,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit(TEU).
“This is the largest container-roro ship coming to Africa,” said Ascanio Russo, managing director of PTML, describing the significance of the new service.
The new route eliminates the complexities and reduces overall costs for importers and exporters who previously had to rely on indirect shipping routes with multiple stops.
“Because it’s direct shipping, lead times and the cost of transactions avoiding all the extended movements,” said Obiora Madu, director general of African Centre for Supply Chain. “A reduction of 10 days means a lot for the cost of doing business,” he said.
Andrea Grimaldi, representing the Grimaldi family, framed the development as a response to growing trade demands.