New scanners for the Port of Montevideo arrive on the Grande Francia

Among the shipments that arrived in the Port of Montevideo on 21 June, one in particular was eagerly awaited: it contained two latest generation scanners acquired by the Uruguayan National Customs Directorate, to be used for Non-Intrusive X-Ray Inspection to monitor export, import and transit cargo at the Uruguayan capital’s maritime gateway. The new equipment will allow increased inspection capacity – between 75% and 80% of the total volume of TEUs handled by the port.

The scanners were loaded in Tilbury on the Grimaldi Group’s vessel Grande Ghana and then transshipped in Antwerp on the Grande Francia, with final destination Montevideo. A third scanner is due to arrive – once again on the Grande Francia – in August, as part of large investments by the Port of Montevideo that will make it a “Smart Port” by the end of 2025. However, the Italian shipping company’s contribution to the upgrading of security systems in the Port of Montevideo is not limited to these shipments.

The collaboration between the Grimaldi Group and Uruguay's Customs authorities started in mid-2019, when the company requested the scanning of all the containers it loaded and transshipped in the Port of Montevideo. This then evolved later that year, with information being sent proactively by the Group’s local agent KMA to the Customs, which allowed the latter to start using a new system of risk analysis which is still in place today.

Regular meetings held over the last few years and attended by representatives from the shipping company, its local branch and agents, the Montevideo Port Authority and Uruguayan Customs have resulted in special measures being adopted for ro-ro vessel operations, such as exclusion zones and barriers in the area of the ramp. In addition, all export containers (both direct and in transshipment from Paraguay) are scanned at the port of Montevideo before loading on Grimaldi vessels.

In short, there is full synergy and active collaboration between the Italian company and the Uruguayan authorities to fight the illicit use of ships and port infrastructure – with the delivery of the new scanners being just the latest example.

The issue of security is of primary concern not only for the Montevideo port community, but for the whole of Uruguay: this is why, on 21 June, the quay where the Grande Francia arrived was crowded not only with local stakeholders, but also with representatives from national authorities – among others, Azucena Arbeleche and Alejandro Irastorza, respectively Minister and Undersecretary of the Economy, José Luis Falero, the Minister of Transport, Juan Curbelo, President of ANP (Administración Nacional de Puertos), and Jaime Borgiani, Director General of Uruguayan Customs.