Grimaldi takes delivery of Grande Egitto, its second 9,800 CEU car carrier
The ammonia-ready PCTC opens on the Asia to East Africa service with 4,150 cars and 6,200 lane metres of freight
Grimaldi Group has taken delivery of Grande Egitto, a 9,800 CEU pure car and truck carrier built by China Merchants Heavy Industry Jiangsu. The ship was handed over on 21 September and is the Italian group's 14th unit to carry an ammonia-ready notation. With her sister Grande Pacifico, which entered service last month, she is the largest PCTC in the Grimaldi fleet.
The ship is 220 metres long and 38 metres wide, with a gross tonnage of 95,534 and a service speed of 18 knots. Fifteen car decks give her a capacity of 9,800 CEU, and she is designed to carry electric and conventionally fuelled cars as well as vehicles running on compressed natural gas.
The Italian classification society RINA has given her its Ammonia Ready notation, certifying that she can be converted to burn ammonia, alongside Green Plus, Green Star 3, Comfort Vibration and Comfort Noise Port notations. Grimaldi says she uses 50% less fuel than the previous generation of car carriers.
The equipment behind that figure includes 5 MWh of lithium batteries and a shore power connection, which together allow zero-emission operation at berth in equipped ports, 2,500 square metres of solar panels, silicone hull coatings, an air lubrication system, an optimised hull and a gate rudder. The electronically controlled main engine has exhaust gas treatment for sulphur oxides, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, with NOx well below the IMO Tier III limits.
Her maiden voyage begins next week on Grimaldi's Asia to East Africa service. She will load 4,150 cars and 6,200 lane metres of rolling freight, including excavators, buses and trucks, at Taicang, Yokohama and Nagoya for Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.
"With the entry into service of the Grande Egitto, we are giving a new, important boost to the expansion and modernization path of our vehicle transport fleet," said managing director Emanuele Grimaldi.
Grande Egitto is the second ship of that size in the group's fleet, after Grande Pacifico. The same Jiangsu yard is also building car carriers for Höegh Autoliners, which formally signed for six more of its 9,100 CEU Aurora class there on 22 September.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 26 September 2026.
