Grande Benin Comes to Baltimore May 25, 2020
This 210x32m (689x105ft) ConRo (Container/RoRo) ship was built in 2009 by now defunct Uljanik Shipyard in Pula, Croatia and is owned by Italy based Grimaldi Group according to BalticShipping.com.
She is the namesake of the Grande Benin class which has 5 ships which can be seen in this fleet list. She can carry up to 2,000 cars and 800 TEU.
On August 3, 2019 4.5 tons of cocaine were found in a container aboard this ship by German customs official according to the Latest News on this VesselTracker.com page.
This ship’s launching can be viewed in this video from 2009. Check out this 2014 video of this ship at the Port of Santos in Brazil. This great video from 2015 from someone accompanying a pilot of the Savannah Bar Pilots as this ship makes an evening departure from Savannah, Georgia. Who wouldn’t love to see a similar perspective from Baltimore?
This 2016 video from Piraeus, Greece shows trucks on the container deck and cars on the bridge deck which shows how versatile this ship is. This 2018 video shows her departure from Southampton, UK.
In my 7 minute video below she can be seen approaching on the Patapsco River. The pilot boat Vedette approaches. Tugboat Annabelle Dorothy Moran can be seen waiting to assist. As she nears it looks like she just came out of the paint shop, especially when compared to the 2018 video above. After passing under the Key Bridge the tug Annabelle Dorothy Moran can be seen moving into position alongside the Grande Benin.
You can view my photography (more than just ships!) here and more videos here.