Tag: RORO

On 12 September 2017, while approaching Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, the ro-ro passenger ferry Wight Sky suffered a catastrophic failure of one of its main propulsion engines, and fire broke out. The fire was control immediately, but the vessel's engineer suffered serious burn injuries. He was subsequently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had not returned to work until now, UK MAIB informs.

The port of Antwerp had an excellent second quarter with May as the best month ever. During the first six months of the year the port handled 118,648,143 tonnes of freight, an increase of 6.5% compared with the same period last year. The main driver continues to be container freight which grew 8.2% compared with the first six months of 2017.

A passenger/ro-ro cargo ferry arrived in port and berthed without incident. Its vehicle ramp was then landed and a shore ramp was lowered from an upper linkspan. Shortly afterwards, the upper linkspan shore ramp fingers dropped off the ferry and one mooring rope parted. The ship came to rest 15m forward of its original position.

In the latest Safety Digest, UK MAIB presents the case of a small fire on a Ro-Ro ship. Repairs were planned during an evening passage, involving hot work inside the boiler. As the discharge of passengers and vehicles had started, the chief engineer informed the safety officer that a small fire had broke out in the boiler.

In its latest Safety Digest, UK MAIB describes a near-miss of a Ro-Ro vessel. The ship was trying to berth but it encountered problems because at that day there was fog and sunlight in the port, which resulted in a significant glare. As the ship was performing manoeuvres to berth, the master warned the passengers and the crew to prepare for impact, which was averted, but for only 3 metres.

The new vessels will be the first examples of a new series of hybrid Ro-Ro vessels, which will use fossil fuel during navigation and electricity while in port, ensuring "zero emissions in port". The vessels will be equipped with mega lithium batteries which will allow them to meet the energy requirements while at berth.

UK MAIB presents an incident where, because of bad weather a Ro-Ro cargo vessel decided to anchor to allow the weather front to pass through. The vessel anchored, but a little later, the second officer on watch on the bridge suspected that the anchor was dragging. The master turned on the engines, managing to stop the dragging,

The trade association Interferry welcomed the IMO's decision for a 20% correction in its Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) calculation formula for Ro-Ro and Ro-pax vessels. This decision is seen as an incentive to drive newbuild projects that have been obstructed by the current criteria. The decision can be applied immediately.

The Gothenburg Port Authority released its Sustainability Report for 2017, "Sustainable Port". The report notes that the labour disputes caused a fall in container volumes and affected the number of direct calls. However, record-breaking figures have been reported for cars, Ro-Ro units and energy products. 

The world’s largest short sea Ro-Ro vessel, owned by Luxembourg-based CLdN, was christened in a ceremony at Dublin Port, on 20 April. With a capacity of 8,000 lane-meters, and a length of 235 metres, 'MV Celine' represents the next generation of super ferries servicing the Irish Port.