Norway’s United European Car Carriers (UECC), which is jointly owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Wallenius Lines, has ordered the world’s first dual-fuel Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTCs) from Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI). The shipyard will build the twin ships at its co-owned NACKS shipyard in Nantong, China. Deliveries of both vessels will be in the second half of 2016.
The design for the 3,800-car PCTCs, which will be built to 1A super Finnish/Swedish ice class, has been jointly developed by UECC, Wallenius Marine and the NYK Technical Group, along with KHI. A significant amount of the cargo capacity on board the ships will also be available to transport high and heavy cargo, in addition to cargo loaded onto MAFI trailers.
The 181m by 30m ships will have an internal LNG fuel storage system of sufficient capacity for a fourteen-day voyage, and when delivered in 2016 will be the largest PCTC type vessels specifically designed for year-round operation on the Baltic.
