Float-off programmed Saturday 12, weather permitting. SAAM Towage tugs. Then the Uruguay River to Colonia for Buquebus. Painted name and namesake stay Zorrilla, two Rs.

ANP particulars: Uruguay flag. 130 m length, 32 m beam, 3.5 m draught. 2,100 passengers, 225 vehicles. Black Marlin: Malta, 217.5 m by 42.04 m, heavy-lift. Nueva Palmira was picked for depth on the Río Uruguay. Colonia terminal, ANP–UTE 2024: 15 MW shore power, more than half the town’s load.

El Observador, 10 September 20:12: arrived that Thursday at 17:00 on Black Marlin, Hobart–Magellan–Palmira. Harbour master Nicolás Suárez: float-off means the carrier submerges about 19 metres so China Zorrilla floats herself. Ballast Thursday night into Friday. One to two days. Then Colonia “puerto madre,” last light Sunday or first light Monday. Palmira depth about 20 metres plus tide. He called the depth unusual for this coast.

El País, same afternoon before the berth: arrival 17:00 Thursday; float-off more than a day; Buquebus welcome Saturday 12 from 12:00. President Orsi on X: the largest electric ship in the world already in Uruguay.

GlobalPorts prints a Wednesday arrival in the roads. That weekday is not merged with the Thursday 17:00 in El Observador and El País.

Baird Maritime, 9 March 2026: Incat Hobart aluminium catamaran. Corvus Dolphin 41.2 MWh. Forty minutes’ charge for one 55 km crossing Buenos Aires–Colonia at 25 knots. Brief was diesel/LNG; owner and yard switched to full electric; weight came off and the waterjets shrank for water about 2.5 m deep.

VesselFinder still showed CHINA ZORRILLA AIS stale in East Australia against the Palmira press. Those two pictures are not merged. No Incat or Buquebus release dated 10–11 September in this pack.

How the ship comes off the deck

A semi-submersible heavy-lift ship is a tank farm with a flat deck. Flood the tanks. The deck goes under. The cargo floats. Pump back. That is a float-off. No crane.

Suárez’s number is 19 metres of sink for this hull. Palmira has about 20 metres. Colonia does not. That is why the electric ferry does not splash in her home port.

Black Marlin is the same class of ship that moves wind-farm jackets and tugs. ANP printed that work list. The ferry is just another deck load that has to float in the river before she ever takes a car.

See China Zorrilla leaves Tasmania on Black Marlin.

Established

• ANP: China Zorrilla 9916678 on Black Marlin 9186326; Palmira 10 Sep programme; float-off 12 Sep subject to weather; Colonia 15 MW.
• El Observador / El País: Thursday 17:00 arrival; ~19 m sink; 20 m water.
• Baird: 41.2 MWh; 40 min charge; 55 km; 25 kn.

Not established

• One weekday of arrival (GlobalPorts Wednesday vs Thursday 17:00).
• Live AIS in the river matching the press.
• Incat / Buquebus 10–11 Sep company note.