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Grand Day for Port of Baltimore

[ November 1, 2017   //   ]

The Grimaldi Group’s Grande Baltimora roll on/roll off vessel was recently officially named during a ceremony at the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore’s Fairfield Marine Terminal.

The Grande Baltimora is a pure car & truck carrier ro/ro vessel with a length of 656 feet, a beam of 106 feet and a service speed of 19 knots. The new Italian-flag vessel can transport 6,700 Car Equivalent Units (CEUs) or alternatively 4,000 linear meters of oversized farm and construction machinery and 2,500 CEUs.

“We are very honored that the Grimaldi Group chose to name this beautiful vessel after our port and city,” said MDOT Maryland Port Administration Executive Director James J. White.  “Grimaldi and ACL are long-time partners of the Port of Baltimore.  We look forward to seeing Grande Baltimora return to our port many more times.”

The godmother of the ship was Mrs. Carol Ann White, wife of Executive Director White.  Following a long-standing maritime tradition, Mrs. White broke a champagne bottle against the ship for good luck.

“The naming of the “Grande Baltimora” after the great city of Baltimore demonstrates the strength of the commitment by our parent company, the Grimaldi Group, to the port,” said ACL President and CEO Andrew J. Abbott.  “Baltimore is a core port for the Grimaldi Euro med service to the Mediterranean, the Grimaldi Deep Sea service to West Africa and the Grimaldi ACL service to North Europe. The professionalism and customer orientation of Port Director Jim White and his great team make Baltimore the easiest port to do business in the entire United States. So it only makes sense that the first Grimaldi ship to carry the name of a US port is the Grande Baltimora.”

The Port of Baltimore has handled more cars and farm and construction equipment than any other U.S. port for several years.  Combining both the public and private marine terminals, the Port of Baltimore saw 31.8 million tons of international cargo cross its docks last year which was valued at approximately $49.9 billion.  Baltimore is ranked as the top port among all U.S. ports for handling autos and light trucks, farm and construction machinery, imported gypsum, imported sugar, and imported aluminum. Overall Baltimore is ranked ninth for the total dollar value of cargo and 14th for cargo tonnage for all U.S. ports.

 

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