Friday, January 24, 2025

Grand Champion auto carrier

 The auto carrier Grand Champion made a short half day stay at Autoport today, January 24. Its arrival time at the pilot station was 0530 hrs, and allowing for the usual hour and a half or so, it was likely secure alongside around 0700. Its departure order was for 1200 and the ship left quite promptly.

Most auto carriers on the Europe to North America run send a day or more in port, but this ship was not coming from Europe, one of a few recent arrivals from Asia via US east coast ports.

Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co Ltd built the Grand Champion at the Imabari shipyard in 2008. It is a 59,217 gt, 18,262 dwt Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) with a capacity of 6400 cars on nine decks accessed via a 150 tonne capacity RoRo ramp. It also has a small starboard side ramp. 

It also has an unusual spark arrestor cage around its funnel - a feature I don't recall seeing on any other ship, although smoke diverters were installed on some passenger ships to keep smuts off the open passenger decks.

Owner Cido Shipping is a Korean owned company operating from Hong Kong and Japan. Its current fleet consists of about 72 ships of all types, including 37 car carriers - several of which are more than twenty years old. The company made headlines last year when it ordered forty ships from Korean and Chinese shipyards. That number included twelve PCTCs. Most of Cido's PCTCs are on long term charter to the major auto carrier lines such as Grimaldi, MOL and ZIM. This ship was reported chartered to K-Line two years ago and was running from Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal. Most ships are still avoiding the Red Sea.

The Grand Champion sailed from Kanda, Japan December 17, Yokohama December 20, Kawasaki December 21-23, then sailed directly to Panama anchorage January 13 and Brunswick, GA for January 19-20. It seems that Japanese car manufacturers (who are enduring a major sales slump) have opted to bring cars via the Panama Canal instead off-loading at Pacific coast ports. This is a recent change and appears to be the result of fiercely competitive shipping lines offering bargain rates, but also a return to more normal water levels in Panama, which were delaying ships last summer. Ongoing diversions from the Red Sea and Suez Canal may also figure into the routing.

On sailing the ship gave Newark NJ as its destination.

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