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The Zhen Hua 28 ship brought two disassembled quay cranes and eight electric RTGs from China to Tecon Santos, in a billion-dollar delivery for the modernization of the terminal that combines remote operation, increased productivity, reduced emissions, and the advancement of Santos Brasil’s climate transition plan
The Zhen Hua 28 ship arrived in Brazil and had its cargo received by Santos Brasil on January 10, 2026, at Tecon Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, bringing disassembled two new quay cranes and eight electric RTG yard cranes, manufactured by the Chinese company ZPMC. The equipment represents investments of R$ 300 million in a new stage of terminal modernization.
The operation drew attention because the ship departed from China on November 15 and unloaded the machines via rails connecting the vessel to the quay. The package involves not only capacity expansion but also technological and environmental change. The company expects to begin standard operation of the new cranes in February, while remote operation will be gradually implemented after testing, system configuration, and team training, in a process that could take up to a year.
What the ship brought from China to Santos
The Zhen Hua 28 ship unloaded a set of machines at Tecon Santos aimed at reinforcing operational capacity and accelerating terminal modernization. On the vessel’s deck came two quay cranes, used at the quay, and eight electric RTGs, used in the yard, all disassembled for transport.
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This detail helps to gauge the complexity of the delivery. It is not a common cargo, but gigantic equipment, brought from China to be assembled and incorporated into an increasingly automated and efficient port operation.
The numbers that show the size of the delivery
The values and quantities help explain the weight of the operation. The package delivered by the ship totals 10 pieces of equipment, consisting of two quay cranes and eight electric RTGs, with a reported investment of R$ 300 million.
Each of the new quay cranes is 50 meters high, measured from the quay to the boom, and has a 70-meter reach. Furthermore, each unit can move up to two full 20-foot containers simultaneously, totaling up to 100 tons of cargo. These numbers show that the reinforcement goes far beyond machine replacement and enters the realm of real expansion of the terminal’s operational capacity.
How the new cranes will operate
Santos Brasil informed that the standard operation of the new cranes is expected to begin in February. Remote operation, however, will be implemented gradually, depending on tests, system configuration, and team training.
This transition process will not be immediate. According to the company, the migration to the remote model could take up to a year to be completed. This indicates that the ship’s arrival marks the beginning of a new phase, but the complete transformation of the system will still be built step by step within the terminal.
The technology expected to increase safety and productivity
The new quay cranes delivered by the ship feature Truck Position System, TPS, technology, which ensures precise positioning of trucks during loading and unloading operations. The aim is to enhance safety and also improve quay productivity.
Furthermore, the quay cranes already allow for remote operation from the control center, a model that the company states it already adopts with RTGs. This puts Tecon Santos on a more intense path of automation, where the physical modernization of machines goes hand in hand with the digitalization of operations.
What changes in the yard with electric RTGs
The eight new electric RTGs expand a movement that was already underway. They join the eight electric units already operating in the Tecon Santos yard, increasing the presence of this type of equipment in the terminal’s routine.
The company also informed that it plans to purchase another 30 electric RTGs to replace diesel-powered models. This data shows that the delivery brought by the ship is not isolated, but part of a structural replacement of the yard’s crane fleet.
Why emission reduction became a central point
Santos Brasil highlights that replacing old equipment with electric models brings direct environmental gains. According to the company, each electric RTG avoids the emission of approximately 20 tons of CO₂ per month.
When all old models are replaced, the total reduction is expected to reach 713 tons per month, with a 97% drop in emissions related to this part of the operation. In practice, the ship that arrived from China brought not only new machines, but also an important piece of the terminal’s climate plan.
The larger investment behind this modernization
The arrival of the equipment is part of a much broader project. Santos Brasil informs that the expansion and modernization of Tecon Santos began in 2019 and will continue until 2031, with planned investments of approximately R$ 3 billion.
Of this total, approximately R$ 2 billion has already been invested. The company states that these investments are integrated into its Climate Transition Plan, which aims to make operations net zero by 2040. This transforms the ship’s arrival into a chapter of a larger strategy, which blends port expansion, logistical efficiency, and decarbonization.
Why this delivery attracts so much attention
The case brings together elements that weigh heavily in the port sector. There’s the international origin of the cargo, the size of the machines, the investment value, progressive automation, and significant emission reduction. All of this in one of the country’s most relevant terminals.
When a ship crosses the ocean bringing 10 giant disassembled cranes from China to a terminal that wants to operate more remotely, productively, and cleanly, what’s at stake is not just an equipment delivery, but a shift in the level of port infrastructure.
What Tecon Santos aims to build for the coming years
With the arrival of these machines, Tecon Santos reinforces its attempt to combine scale, technology, and sustainability in a single trajectory. The new ship-to-shore cranes increase quay capacity, electric RTGs redesign the yard, and remote operation points to a new standard of control and productivity.
At the same time, the project shows that port modernization is no longer restricted to expanding space or installing larger equipment. Now it also involves reducing emissions, adopting operational intelligence, and preparing the terminal for a more connected and less diesel-dependent operational logic.
The ship that left China brought more than machines
The Zhen Hua 28 arrived in Brazil as a visible part of a large-scale investment, but the content of the operation goes beyond the unloading itself. The ship brought pieces of a transformation that will still unfold into assembly, testing, assisted operation, training, and progressive replacement of old equipment.
In other words, the ship that left China did not just deliver cranes to Tecon Santos. It brought a concrete part of the future that the company wants to build by 2031 and consolidate climatically by 2040.
In your opinion, does the arrival of this ship with 10 giant disassembled cranes mark just an important modernization, or does it already show that Brazilian ports have definitively entered a new era of remote operation and low emissions?
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