Grande Mirafiori joins Grimaldi's fleet

Photo: Grimaldi Group

The 199.9 m-long, 36.45 m-wide, GT 65,255-big pure car & truck carrier, flying the Italian flag, has been handed over to her owners at the Chinese shipyard of Yangfan in Zhoushan.

Across her four hoistable decks Grande Mirafiori offers approx. 7,600 CEU (car equivalent units) of cargo capacity, or, alternatively, 5,400 lane meters of rolling units and 2,737 CEU. Rolling freight up to 5.3 m in height can be loaded onto her.

The vessel is fitted with a side ramp and a quarter stern ramp, the latter allowing the loading of freight units with a weight of up to 150t.

The carrier is fitted with an electronically-controlled (Man Energy Solutions) main engine, allowing her to meet the new regulations for the reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions, as well as with an exhaust gas cleaning system for the abatement of sulphur oxide emissions. She's also equipped with a ballast water treatment unit.

Grande Mirafiori is the second in a series of seven sister pure car & truck carriers ordered by the Grimaldi Group at the Yangfan yard. The vessel will join the first, Grande Torino, as well as Grande Halifax, Grande Baltimora, and Grande New York in serving a weekly Mediterranean-North & Central America service that links the ports of Gioia Tauro, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Savona, Valencia, Antwerp, Halifax, Davisville, New York, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Houston, Tuxpan, and Veracruz.

Emanuele Grimaldi, CEO, the Grimaldi Group, commented on the delivery, "With the delivery of the Grande Mirafiori, our fleet is enriched by a new PCTC among the biggest, most innovative and environmentally sustainable in the world."

He added, "The name of this unit recalls the historic Fiat plant, which has celebrated its 80^th birthday this year. We thus honour the long and fruitful partnership that has been linking us for half a century to one of the most important car manufacturers in the world."