Delivery Journey of the Uruguayan River Roll-on “Expreso del Plata I”

After its recent delivery at the Nantong Changginsha shipyard in Jiangsu (China), the vessel “Expreso del Plata I” (IMO 9942641) is currently sailing towards Cape Town – where it is expected to arrive on April 10 – a stopover before crossing the South Atlantic towards Montevideo. This oddly designed roll-on, with a ramp located on the port side, will enter service next May on the Juan Lacaze-Buenos Aires line, reports Fernando Pontolillo, editor of the blog marinamercanteuruguaya.com.

The shipowner has designed a vessel where trucks enter from the stern and exit from the bow without the need to maneuver in the hold, as the Argentine terminal does not have a ramp for bow docking, hence this strange and ugly invention is expected to achieve the desired result.

Built at the aforementioned Nantong shipyard on behalf of Efecon S.A. Línea del Plata, it is currently flagged in Panama, although it is expected to be registered in Uruguay and inscribed in the naval registry of Montevideo. The contract was signed in 2019, and it was launched last September.

This is a river roll-on with a gross tonnage of 8,155 tons and a deadweight of 5,000 tons, with a hull measuring 119 m in length and 21.80 m in beam. In addition to the lateral ramp at the port bow, it has two ramps at the stern, two mobile ramps in the garage with capacity for 52 trucks, and is powered by two engines and an equal number of propellers, classified by RINA.

Photo: via marinamercanteuruguaya.com