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The Grande Shanghai ship docked at the Port of Itajaí, on the Northern Coast of Santa Catarina, with 4,585 BYD electric cars distributed over 14 decks. The mega-operation to disembark the BYD vehicles involves between 100 and 150 workers from JBS Terminals, who drive the cars one by one out of the 220-meter vessel, conduct integrity inspections, and take them to the external yard in an operation scheduled to last 48 hours. A Grimaldi Lines ship hadn’t docked in Itajaí for over 15 years, and after disembarkation, the BYD cars are distributed to the southern and southeastern states of Brazil.
Imagine having to sit in the driver’s seat of 4,585 electric cars, one at a time, start the engine, and drive each one out of a 220-meter long ship with 14 decks. This is exactly what about 150 workers are doing at the Port of Itajaí to disembark the largest shipment of BYD cars of the year in Santa Catarina. The mega-operation was scheduled to last 48 hours, and each BYD vehicle is individually driven by a JBS Terminals employee, who takes it from the deck where it was parked inside the Grande Shanghai to the external yard of the port terminal.
The process is not simply about getting the cars off the ship. Each BYD vehicle undergoes an integrity inspection before leaving the vessel, a check that ensures the sea transport did not cause damage to the paint, bodywork, or electronic systems. After disembarkation and inspection, the 4,585 BYD cars are organized in the yard and then distributed by car carrier trucks to dealerships in the southern and southeastern states of Brazil, a journey that adds days to the trip that began in China.
How the disembarkation of BYD cars works
Photo: @jbs.terminais/Instagram
The operation begins on the upper decks of the Grande Shanghai. The workers climb to the highest level where the BYD cars are parked, enter each vehicle, start the electric engine, and descend through the ship’s internal ramps to the dock level. According to information from the ndmais portal, the process is repeated 4,585 times over 48 hours, which means an average of almost 96 BYD cars disembarked per hour or one car every 37 seconds in continuous operation.
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The team of 100 to 150 workers takes turns to maintain the pace without compromising safety. The speed inside the ship is low, the spaces between the vehicles are tight, and the ramps between decks require careful maneuvers. In a video published by JBS Terminals, it is possible to see the line of BYD cars descending in sequence, each guided by a different driver who completes the route and returns on foot to fetch the next one.
The ship that brought the BYD cars
The Grande Shanghai, launched in 2025, is one of the largest and most modern vehicle carrier ships in the world. The vessel measures 220 meters in length and 38 meters in width, distributes the BYD cars across 14 decks, and reaches a cruising speed of 18 knots. A Grimaldi Lines ship had not docked in Itajaí for over 15 years, making the operation doubly significant for the Santa Catarina port.
The Grande Shanghai was also designed to be converted to the use of ammonia as an alternative zero-carbon emission fuel. The vessel is equipped with lithium batteries with a total power of 5 MWh, 2,500 square meters of solar panels, and a shore power connection system. The engine is electronically controlled and equipped with an exhaust gas cleaning system to reduce sulfur oxide and particulate matter emissions.
What happens after the BYD cars leave the ship
After disembarking, the 4,585 BYD vehicles are organized in the Itajaí Port yard and loaded onto car carrier trucks for distribution. The BYD cars head to dealerships in the South and Southeast of Brazil, and the logistical process between disembarkation and arrival at the stores can take additional days depending on the distance and the available road transport capacity.
The Itajaí Port had already handled 2,928 vehicles in ro-ro operations in 2026 before the arrival of the Grande Shanghai. With this BYD shipment and another expected in June with an additional 7,200 units, the terminal is expected to reach about 14,713 vehicles handled in the year. For the city, each mega-operation like this generates temporary jobs, boosts the logistics chain, and consolidates Itajaí as an entry point for Chinese electric vehicles in Brazil.
The Most Unusual “Test Drive” in Brazil
The workers who disembark the BYD cars perform, in practice, the shortest and most repetitive test drive in Brazil: a few meters inside a ship, from one deck to the quay, hundreds of times per shift. Each employee drives dozens of different BYD models over the 48-hour operation, getting to know vehicles from the inside that most Brazilians have only seen in photos or dealerships.
The operation is a reminder that behind every electric car that arrives at a dealership, there is a logistics chain that starts in a factory in China, crosses the ocean on a 220-meter ship, and ends with a worker sitting in the seat, starting the engine, and driving the BYD vehicle off the vessel, one by one, until all 4,585 are on Brazilian soil.
Can you imagine driving 4,585 BYD electric cars off a ship in 48 hours? What impresses you the most: the scale of the operation, the 14 decks, or the fact that each car is driven individually? Tell us in the comments.
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