MSC has shipped 11 ballast wagons from Antwerp to Montevideo in a single shipment. To accommodate the wagons, a bed of 24 fourty-foot flat racks was created, generating a surface area of nearly 675 square metres on which the cargo was stowed.

The wagons were shipped on the 8,800 TEU container vessel MSC Sofia Celeste which sails MSC’s NWC String I service between North Europe and South America. Each wagon measured 14 metres in length and over 3 metres in width and height and together weighed 290 tonnes.

The ballast wagons are part of an important infrastructure project for Uruguay, which is currently building a viaduct to futureproof the port of Montevideo. The viaduct is designed and built to support the circulation of loaded trucks and passenger cars. At completion, it will be approximately 1,800 metres long, with three entry and exit lanes and a 160-metre-long arched bridge. With this project, the port is expected to gain nine hectares of essential surface area, two-way rail access to the port, and greater traffic fluidity.

“At a time when the entire market remains under considerable systemic pressure due to the global pandemic, our project cargo team is going above and beyond to ensure the planning and execution of special loadings continue uninterrupted”, MSC’s global project cargo manager Ben Collins commented.

Despite the congestion at some key trade centres worldwide, a dedicated area of 1,000 square metres of terminal space was provided to store the cargo at MPET terminal in Antwerp in preparation for loading before the arrival of MSC Sofia Celeste.