World’s largest swinging bell shipped from Poland to Brazil

Vienna-headquartered transport and logistics provider, cargo-partner, has undertaken shipment of unusual cargo on a 10,000-kilometre journey. 

The company, part of the Nippon Express Holdings Inc. group, managed the transport of the world’s largest swinging bell, ‘Vox Patris’, from Poland to Brazil. 

Shipment of the bell, weighing 55 tonnes and measuring four metres in height and 4.5 metres in diameter, required a coordinated exercise in tandem with local and international partners.  

“The scale of this task has required careful planning and coordination, and we are pleased to have played a role in transporting such an important and unique object,” said cargo-partner Poland Managing Director, Stanisław Bochenek. 

cargo-partner’s Gdynia branch managed the entire logistics chain, including land transport in Poland, transshipment, and customs clearance at the Baltic Hub port. 

The journey of Vox Patris began in southern Poland, where it was cast by Jan Felczyński Bell Foundry and Rduch Bells & Clocks. It was then packed, loaded on a truck by crane and transported to a warehouse near the Baltic Hub terminal in Gdańsk.  

From there, the bell, two smaller bells and parts of the construction were prepared for sea transport to Brazil, as oversized out-of-gauge (OOG) cargo. 

Special measures were taken to ensure the stability of the oversized cargo during transport.  

The smaller bells and other items were transported in one flat-rack and two open-top containers. The flat-rack container carried cargo that extended beyond its width and height, while both open-top containers held over-height (OH) cargo.  

Each container had a gross weight of approximately 20 to 22 tonnes. 

The project cargo departed for the Port of Santos in Brazil on 10 April 2025.  

Upon arrival, the bell will continue its journey over 1,600 kilometres to its destination in Trindade, central Brazil.  

This part of the route will be managed by Windlog, a Brazilian forwarding company that entrusted the bell’s overseas transport to cargo-partner. 

“Transporting a cargo of this size and significance requires a high level of precision, and synchronising all aspects of the transport process was a key challenge,” said Stanisław Bochenek. 

“Our team ensured that the bell was securely prepared for both land and sea transport, with special attention given to securing the oversized load.” 

Vox Patris is five times heavier than Poland’s most famous bell, the Sigismund bell at Cracow’s Wawel Cathedral. Made from a copper-tin alloy, the bell is designed for both sound and visual appeal. 

Once it arrives in Brazil, Vox Patris will be placed at a height of 30 metres in a 100-metre-high bell tower at the Sanctuary of God the Father All Eternal in Trindade.  

A new cathedral is currently being built there to accommodate 12,000 worshippers, which will make it the largest church in the world.  

The site is visited by more than four million pilgrims each year. 

In other news, last year, cargo-partner opened its first UK warehouse.