The Grimaldi Group, the world's leading operator of multipurpose RORO/Container and PCTC (pure car and truck carrier) vessels are pleased to introduce the multipurpose RORO vessel Grande Marocco, delivered by the Hyundai Mipo shipyard to the Grimaldi Group last April. The Grande Marocco has a length of 210 metres, a width of 32.26 metres, a gross tonnage of 47,500 tonnes and a service speed of 20 knots; her ideal cargo intake is 2,000 cars/vans, 2,000 linear metres of rollling cargo and 800 Teu and she is able to accommodate any kind of rolling, containerized and project cargo.

Designed to offer the maximum of flexibility in terms of intake capacity and type of cargo loaded, the Grande Marocco has a sophisticated system of internal ramps/decks, fixed and hoistable while the quarter stern ramp allows the loading of cargo units with a weight up to 250 tonnes. Each of her two cranes on the weather deck is able to lift units (containers and general cargo) up to 40 tonnes, while the height of the main decks allows the loading of heavy and out of gauge rolling equipment such as trucks, tractors, double-deck buses and big earthmoving project equipment.

The new vessel will be deployed on the North America-West Africa RORO and container service run by the Grimaldi Group, making her maiden voyage from the U.S. in mid-June. Ports called with this service in the U.S. are Jacksonville, Savannah, Baltimore, New York and Boston. Ports directly served in West Africa are Dakar (Senegal), Cotonou (Benin), Lome (Togo), Lagos (Nigeria) and Tema (Ghana).

Dakar is used as a hub for the feedering of freight with Grimaldi tonnage which directly serves West Africa from North Europe with an unbeatable frequency. Ports called are Banjul (Gambia), Conakry (Guinea), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Monrovia (Liberia), Boma (Dem. Rep. of Congo), Douala (Cameroon), Pointe Noire (Congo-Brazzaville), Luanda (Angola), Lobito (Angola), Takoradi (Ghana) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

With the replacement of a car carrier and the introduction of the Grande Marocco in the U.S. trade to West Africa, the frequency of the service for the transport of containers will improve from 21 to 14 days.

Atlantic Container Line (ACL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group is the General Agent for the service that started in 2006. ACL has been a leading RORO/Container/Car carrier on the North Atlantic trades since 1967.

Grimaldi is also the leading operator of PCTC vessels and RORO-passenger (ROPAX) ferries in the Mediterranean, and the leading operator of RORO/container vessels in the Europe-South America trade.