April 14 - A new study from Dynamar, "Deepsea Ro/Ro Shipping - Operators, Ships & Trades (2014), detailing conventional ro-ro vessels and vehicle carriers operating in the sector, found that while the conventional deep sea ro-ro fleet is contracting, the
Conventional ro-ro ships often have the ability to carry containers or breakbulk cargo, while PCCs and PCTCs are specialised vessels created for the trade in vehicles.
Originally created to move automobiles from Japan to the USA, modern PCTCs have heavy-duty ramps and strengthened and adjustable decks so that they can carry all manner of construction and agricultural equipment, as well as breakbulk items, says Dynamar.
The 203-page report provides a comprehensive overview of the conventional deep-sea ro-ro and vehicle carrier market including: the top 15 operators in each sector; profiles on the top operators and their affiliates; comprehensive fleet analysis by factors including CEU capacity, ramp capability and age; the existing world fleet and order book; port and trade lanes covered; plus much more.
Dynamar observes that deepsea ro-ro shipping is a specialisation that came to prominence in the 1960s as an offshoot from the one-concept-fits-all general cargo deepsea vessel. This development was driven by the high degree of cargo unitisation offered by the container.
The report reveals that the conventional deep-sea ro-ro vessel fleet has shrunk by 86 units since 2009, resulting in a compound average growth rate of minus 6 percent. In contrast, the vehicle carrier fleet grew by 85 ships in the same period, despite the fact that nearly 150 such vessels were demolished in 2009/10.
Delmas, NileDutch, Seaboard Marine and Tropical Shipping are among the companies to have scaled back on operating such ships or left this segment altogether. This, however, does not mean that there is no investment in the conventional ro-ro vessel, says Dynamar.
New ships are being built in both the multipurpose/ro-ro and the container ro-ro categories that are larger and more productive than their predecessors, although this investment is only coming from a few operators, Dynamar explains
The full report Deepsea Ro/Ro Shipping - Operators, Ships & Trades (2014) is available for purchase at the Dynamar website here.
