Roro

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"Car carrier" redirects here. For the railroad car, see Autorack. For the trailer towed by a tractor, see Semi-trailer.
See also: Merchant ship and Rolling highway


Loading a ro-ro passenger car ferry
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroadcars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels. This is in contrast to lo-lo (lift-on/lift-off) vessels which use a crane to load and unload cargo.
RORO vessels have built-in ramps which allow the cargo to be efficiently "rolled on" and "rolled off" the vessel when in port. While smaller ferries that operate across rivers and other short distances often have built-in ramps, theterm RORO is generally reserved for larger ocean-going vessels. The ramps and doors may be stern-only, or bow and stern for quick loading.
Contents [hide]
1 Types
2 History
3 Car carriers
4 Seaworthiness
5 Variations of RORO
5.1 ROPAX
5.2 ConRO
5.3 RoLo
5.4 LMSR
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
[edit]Types



The Ulysses (largest car ferry in the world)Ferry terminal for the Peninsula Searoad Transport service, with cars leaving a ferry
Various types of RORO vessels include ferries, cruiseferries, cargo ships, and barges. New automobiles that are transported by ship are often moved on a large type of RORO called a Pure Car Carrier (PCC) or Pure Car Truck Carrier (PCTC).
Elsewhere in the shipping industry cargo is normally measured by themetric tonne, but RORO cargo is typically measured in units of 'lanes in metres' (LIMs). This is calculated by multiplying cargo length in metres by the number of decks and by its width in lanes (lane width differs from vessel to vessel and there are several industry standards). Aboard PCCs cargo capacity is often measured in RT or RT43 units which is based on a 1966 Toyota or by car equivalentunits (CEU).
The largest RORO passenger ferry is MS Color Magic, a 75,100 GT cruise ferry that entered service in September 2007 for Color Line. Built in Finland by Aker Finnyards, it is 223.70 m (733 ft 11 in) long, 35 m (114 ft 10 in) wide and can carry 550 cars as well as 1270 lane meters of cargo.[1]
The RORO passenger ferry with the greatest car-carrying capacity is the Ulysses (named after anovel by James Joyce) which is owned by Irish Ferries. The Ulysses entered service on 25 March 2001 and operates between Dublin and Holyhead. The 50,938 GT ship is 209.02 m (685 ft 9 in) long and 31.84 m (104 ft 6 in) wide, and can carry 1342 cars and 4101 lane meters of cargo.[2]
[edit]History

This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (July 2012)
At first, wheeled vehicles carried ascargo on oceangoing ships were treated like any other cargo. Automobiles had their fuel tanks emptied and their batteries disconnected before being hoisted into the ship’s hold, where they were chocked and secured. This process was tedious and difficult, vehicles were subject to damage, and could not be used for routine travel.
The world's first roll-on/roll-off service was a train ferry, startedin 1833 by the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, which operated a wagon ferry on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland.[3]
During World War II, Landing Ship, Tanks were among the first seagoing ships enabling road vehicles to roll directly on and off. Post-war, the idea was adopted for merchant ships and short ferry crossings. The first RoRo service crossing the English Channel began from Doverin 1953.[4]
The first Roll-On/Roll-Off vessel for loaded semi-trucks constructed as such was the Searoad of Hyannis, which began operation in 1956. While modest in capacity, she could transport three semi-trailers between Hyannis in Massachusetts and Nantucket Island, even in ice conditions.[5]
In 1957, the US military issued a contract to the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Chester,...