Car Carrier News

Friday & Co. Shipbrokers completed a chartering deal between Boskalis and a Chinese charterer to transport the car carrier Floor (formerly Fremantle Highway) from the Netherlands to China. The project entails transporting the vessel — damaged by fire last year — aboard Boskalis' semi-submersible heavy lift flagship, the Boka Vanguard, for repairs and modifications in Asia.Fremantle Highway, en route from Bremerhaven to Singapore in 2023, encountered a fire in the North Sea but was ultimately saved and docked in Rotterdam.

On July 24, Freesia Leader, the fifth LNG-fueled pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) operated by NYK, arrived at the port of Nagoya for a commemorative delivery ceremony.After arriving at the Port of Nagoya, the vessel received LNG fuel from Kaguya, an LNG-bunkering ship operated by Central LNG Marine Fuel Japan Corporation, a joint venture owned by NYK and other companies.The 200-meter, 71,846GT Freesia Leader can carry 7,000 units and will be engaged in the transportation of finished…

The Unified Command consisting of the U.S. Coast Guard, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Newark Fire Department, and Gallagher Marine Systems has successfully concluded shipboard fire response operations at Port Newark and is transitioning to the investigation and salvage operations.The Grimaldi cargo vessel Grande Costa D’Avorio caught fire Wednesday night around 9:30PM at the Port of Newark, an incident in which two firefighters died Thursday. As of the morning of July 11…

Oslo-listed car carrier operator Gram Car Carriers has secured three-year time charter contracts for the distribution vessels "City of Oslo" and "Viking Odessa with a "leading European operator." Each vessel has the capacity to carry up to 2,000 cars.The dayrate is USD 27,750 per day for each vessel, and the contract adds approximately $61 million of future revenue to the contract backlog. The new contracts will start during the second quarter of 2023.Georg A. Whist, the CEO of GCC, commented: "We continue to sign long-term contracts reflecting favorable car shipping market fundamentals and are now pleased to see the strong demand and…

The world’s first Digital Smart Ship (DSS)On October 28, 2020, NYK took delivery of Sakura Leader, a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) capable of navigating oceans with only LNG as the ship’s main fuel. This delivery marks a step toward achieving NYK’s environment management target, which is to reduce CO2 emissions per ton-kilometer of transport by 50% by 2050. The vessel was built at the Shin Kurushima Dockyard of Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.The ship is the first large LNG-fueled PCTC to be built in Japan.

COVID-19 has hit the vehicle carrier market hard. The world vehicle demand has dropped by c.35%. Consequently, shipping these vehicles has fallen considerably.The only order to take place earlier this year is one from NYK line for a large LCTC for $95 million.No deals have taken place since the beginning of the year, this is a figure we have not seen historically. A break of five months on the S&P side of things in the Vehicle carrier market. One of the main reasons for this low period and a fall in the values is the drop in rates for the 6…

Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen KK expects the coronavirus pandemic to reduce its recurring profit by 50-60 billion yen ($464 million-$557 million) for the year to next March, an executive said on Monday."Our assumption is that the worst impact from the pandemic will be seen in the April-June quarter, with economic activity slowly picking up after that," Toru Maruyama, a corporate officer at Nippon Yusen, told a news conference.Global container demand, which is currently down more than 20%…

Finnish shipbuilding company Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) and Australian TT-Line Company have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on two fast car and passenger ferries.The Project will have an impact on employment totalling around 3,500 person-years, and the construction work will start at the beginning of 2021, said a press release from the company specialized in constructing car ferries, icebreakers and naval vessels.”We are proud and grateful of the trust TT-Line Company has shown us. We believe that with this new partnership, we can serve our customer in a way that results in a world-class car and passenger ferry solution for TT-Line Company’s business.

German shipyard Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) shipyard will not build TT-Line Company Pty Ltd's new Spirit of Tasmania vessels.The Australian shipping company TT-Line cancelled the order at FSG for the construction of two ferries, said a statement from the shipyard.The cancellation of the orders 778 and 779 for TT-Line is by mutual agreement after constructive and objective discussions between the management and owners of FSG and the management of TT-Line.Alex Gregg-Smith, Managing Director of FSG said, “This decision has been taken with the mutual consent of all parties concerned and is part of our reorientation of FSG as we focus on building high-quality products on time and on budget.”

Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has ordered two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with  with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding backed by long-term contracts with Malaysia's energy giant Petronas.The 12-year contract to charter them to Petronas starts in 2022, with an option for an extension for a further 12 years.The two vessels will be built by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding , a wholly owned subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, the largest shipbuilding group in China,  for delivery in the second quarter of 2022, K Line said.These two vessels will be equipped with X-DF engine, which is dual-fuel engine which uses gas admitted at low pressure.Since the delivery of S.S.

Japanese shipping and logistics company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has placed an order to build a second LNG-fueled pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) with Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co.The shipbuilding contract was signed at NYK’s head office on January 31. The vessel is scheduled to be delivered in 2022 and will become NYK’s second LNG-fueled PCTC."With this new vessel, NYK will be able to provide more customers with a low-carbon transportation mode, and the company will continue its efforts to reduce its environmental load and contribute to the realization of a sustainable society," said the shipping company.It said that NYK…

The  container logistics company A.P. Moller - Maersk has embarked on a journey that covers the end-to-end logistics of first-ever Sri Lankan made electric supercar Vega EVX that will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show 2020 later this year in March.The car built in Colombo, started its journey from the Vega Innovations workshop in the heart of the city and is currently en route Port Rotterdam in the Netherlands from where it will continue all the way to Geneva, Switzerland.Maersk, with a legacy as a conglomerate within transport and energy, is transforming to become an integrated container logistics company.From operating eight different divisions with a big corporate layer on top…

Norway-based provider of shortsea RoRo transportation United European Car Carriers (UECC)  held a steel cutting ceremony for its first newbuild pure car truck carrier (PCTC) on order with China Ship Building Trading and Jiangnan Shipyard Group.Representatives from UECC, NYK, Japan Marine Science, MUFG Bank, DNV-GL, SDARI, CSSC and CSTC gathered at the Jiangnan Shipyard in in Shanghai on the 8th of January 2020 to witness and celebrate the steel cutting ceremony for UECC’s first Battery Hybrid LNG Powered PCTC.Earlier, UECC, jointly owned by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and Wallenius Lines, has signed a contract to construct three new generation PCTC with China Ship Building Trading Co., Ltd and Jiangnan Shipyard Group Co.

As car carrier shipping is expected to continue its slow recovery, backed by better utilization and minimal vessel ordering, costs are increasing while the trade outlook seems vulnerable to emerging geopolitical risk. Slow car carrier recovery is expected to lead to more distressed vessel sales as shipping lines focus on landside investments in search of profitability, according to the  global shipping consultancy Drewry.Seaborne trade in finished vehicles, including high & heavy and used autos, continued to grow from 2016’s low, recording growth of 1% in 2018 to 22.8 million units, and this trend has continued into 2019. This is despite the first decline in global vehicle sales in a decade as US and Europe transactions peaked and a decline in China…

NYK has placed an order for the world largest pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) capable of navigating oceans with only LNG as the main fuel. A keel laying ceremony was held on September 20 at Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., and NYK managing corporate officer Takaya Soga and other related parties were in attendance. The ship is scheduled to be delivered in 2020 and will be the first large LNG-fueled PCTC to be built in Japan.To minimize a reduction in vehicle loading capacity caused by the installation of LNG fuel tanks…

Nowegean provider of Ro/Ro (Roll On/Roll Off) deep sea transportation services Höegh Autoliners announce an increased frequency in its service to Australia. Starting in November, the company will offer five sailing per month to Australia from Europe.Previously, Höegh offered up to four regular sailing per month, and with the increased frequency, the company will strengthen its position in the region.Thomas Ramdahl, Chief of Sales said: "To accommodate the growing demand from breakbulk, high and heavy and car manufacturers, we will increase our frequency to Oceania by offering our customers additional sailings from Europe."Höegh Autoliners currently deploy the New Horizon Vessel series in the service to Oceania.

NYK has become the first Japanese shipping company to realize a carbon-neutral voyage by offsetting 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), equivalent to the CO2 emitted by NYK’s environmental flagship car carrier Aries Leader during one voyage between Japan and the Middle East.Aries Leader is equipped with the latest energy-saving technologies, reducing CO2 emissions per unit by 30% compared with existing large pure car carriers (i.e., comparing emissions on a per car basis). In this initiative…

Dutch shipping company Vroon entered recently into a three-to-six time charter deal with Dubai-based RVC Shipping for Suzuka Express, a car carrier.RVC Line is a car-carrier service from Mumbai to the Persian Gulf. It is the first dedicated PCTC (pure car and truck carrier) service catering for Indian Automobile manufacturers."RVC Line’s main objective is Schedule Integrity, with the service designed to ensure sailings are on time, every time," claimed a press release from VroonUsually a vessel will sail on slow speed, around 13 knots. Having a maximum speed of over 19 knots, Suzuka Express can recover any time lost by adjusting speed…

Toyota Maru No.10, which was owned and operated by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE), has been selected by the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers (JASNAOE) through their “Ship Heritage” project in recognition of it having been Japan's first Pure Car Carrier (PCC).JASNAOE first introduced the “Ship Heritage” project in 2017 with the goal of honoring and giving recognition to vessels and vessel-related items that have historical, academic and/or technical value…

Sweden’s largest hybrid-electric car ferry, Tellus, will soon begin passenger operations.The ferry will service Sweden's busiest maritime routes, along with more than 100,000 vehicles transported per month, the majority being heavy trucks.The 100-metre Tellus ferry can carry 80 cars and 297 passengers per tour and will operate with a battery capacity of 949 kWh mainly in fully electric mode.Danfoss Editron supplied the electric drive system. The Tellus ferry will “mainly operate on fully-electric mode”, which will help contribute to the government target of becoming free of fossil fuels by 2045, and operate on one of Sweden’s busiest maritime routes…

A recently released study confirms that liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel is the most financially effective  for Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTC) on Atlantic and Pacific trade lanes.SEA\LNG, the multi-sector industry coalition, created to accelerate the widespread adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel,  has released an independent study showing that LNG as a marine fuel delivers the best return on investment and is a competitive option for newbuild PCTC.Peter Keller, Chairman, SEA\LNG, stated: “This is the second in a series of studies commissioned from independent simulation and analytics expert Opsiana.

South Korea-based company engaged in the production and sale of ships, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co (HMD) has won a 163 billion-won (US$138 million) order to build two car carrier ships.According to a stock exchange announcement from the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) unit, HMD will build the vessels by March 2022 for  a European shipper. It declined to identify the buyer.This is the first ro-ro order of this year for HMD.According to Yonhap, HMD posted sales of 705 billion won in the first quarter of the year, with its operating profit reaching 26.1 billion won. It secured $434 million worth of orders for 11 vessels in the first quarter.HMD primarily builds medium-sized conventional ships and specialized vessels.

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä,  the Netherlands based Maritime Research Institute MARIN and Italian ship owner Grimaldi, have together successfully designed an Energy Saving Device (ESD), suitable for use by ships with Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPPs)."Following model tests, and subsequent sea trials with Grimaldi’s ‘Grande Portogallo’, a 165 metres long Pure Car & Truck Carrier, fuel efficiency gains of 3.5 percent were confirmed," said a press release from the engineering company. This translates into a pay-back period of only 1.3 years."The initial noon reports suggest a 5 percent decrease in the fuel consumption, but in order to get a more realistic value we need to record a wider range of data…