One of the Largest RoRo Car Carrying Ships Appears in Home Waters

NETHERLANDS – One of the world’s largest RoRo vessels designed for the transport of cars arrived this week at the Port of Amsterdam. The Höegh Tracer is the third in a series of vessels the shipping company Höegh Autoliners will be launching as part of its ‘New Horizon’ design line this year. With a deck area of 71,400 square metres and a carrying capacity of 8,500 cars and trucks, the Höegh Tracer is one of the world’s largest ro-ro ships designed to carry car equivalent units. Anthony van der Hoest, Cluster Manager Logistics at Port of Amsterdam commented:

“We are proud to welcome Höegh’s new flagship in our port. Apart from being the largest of its kind, it also consumes less fuel than comparable ships due to its special design. An added benefit is that the New Horizon series of vessels emits around 50% less carbon than the standard RoRo ships. So the arrival of this ship is consistent with our objective of becoming a cleaner port.”

Energy-efficient solutions and the latest technologies were used throughout the entire design process of the technically advanced vessel The design team also optimised the shape of the hull in order to combine the ship’s substantial load capacity with the lowest possible fuel consumption.

The vessel was in home territory as Amsterdam has long served as a strategic location for the shipping company. The Höegh Tracer will call on the port of Amsterdam several times a year as part of Höegh’s East Asia to Europe service. The RoRo ships operated by Höegh Autoliners are used mainly to transport new cars, trucks and large, heavy machinery. The Amsterdam route is used primarily to transfer new cars and heavy machinery produced by Japanese manufacturers. The cargo is loaded and unloaded on the Waterland terminal, with the Koopman Car Terminal serving as the final destination.

Photo: Courtesy Daisy Komen