Robert Carter Apr 10, 2018:

I agree with Alex in terms of where the emphasis lies here, as this appears to be referring specifically to roll-on roll-off cargo, i.e., vehicles.
However, I can't agree with that that translation using "particularly handled through unloading operations". It sounds awkward and it is unclear to me what point is being made.
My reading of the sentence is that it is attempting to say that most of the roll-on roll-off cargo handled was coming off the ships rather then going onto them. In other words, in terms of the ratio of vehicle imports to exports in the region (primarily through it's ports), imports outweighed exports by almost 4 to 1.

Muriel Vasconcellos Apr 10, 2018:

@ Alex It's the difference between a restrictive or nonrestrictive meaning. A comma is required to show nonrestrictive meaning in English but often omitted in Spanish (and sometimes in English). The problem is that the rest of the sentence is making a different point. You can't make two main points in the same sentence; **one must be subordinate**. Therefore, the subordinate part has to be the roll-on/roll-off part ..

Alex Ossa Apr 10, 2018:

@Muriel There's a difference between "The cargo that was roll-on roll-off" (which is what it says) and "The cargo, which was roll-on roll-off, ..." (which is what you're suggesting). Why would you assume it's wrong if there's no more context and the original text has a correct sense? You might end up being right, with more information, but given what we have it's dangerous to assume and insert definition-changing punctuation, isn't it?

"Roll on- Roll off cargo was particularly handled through unloading operations (79% etc.)" still seems the best translation given the context.

Muriel Vasconcellos Apr 10, 2018:

Can't agree with Alex The roll-on, roll-off bit is parenthetical. There should be a comma after "carga." The main point is that the major part of the effort involved unloading, as opposed to loading.

Also, 'particularly' is misused here.

Alex Ossa Apr 9, 2018:

My vote goes for Lydianette's suggestion That is the only of the proposals that make sense, in my opinion.

Lydianette Soza (asker) Apr 9, 2018:

What about:

Roll on- Roll off cargo was particularly handled as unloading (79.56%) at regional ports.

Or maybe:

"Roll on- Roll off cargo was particularly handled through unloading operations "

IMHO, "as unloading" doesn't make too much sense.