Knowledge about ro ro ships in international import and export trade
Knowledge about ro ro ships in international import and export trade
What is ro ro ship?
Ro ro ship, also known as "drive up and drive down" ship, or "roll up and roll down" ship, is a special transport ship that uses freight vehicles to carry goods. Semi trailers or wheeled pallets carrying box goods or other pieces of goods are towed by tractors to directly enter and leave the cargo hold for loading and unloading. There are many kinds of RO ro ships, which are mainly used to transport goods, and also include ro ro passenger ships.
What are the characteristics of RO ro ships?
Ro ro ships are tall, with multi-layer decks for the convenience of cargo units, and the upper deck is flat. Ramps or lifting platforms are set between decks to connect with each other for vehicle access.
Generally, the head of a ro ro ship is equipped with a ball nose, the middle line is straight, and the tail adopts a square tail. There is no cargo hatch, boom and lifting equipment on RO ro ships with gates or springboards. At the head of the ship is the living room, at the tail is the engine room, and in the middle is a large cargo warehouse.
A large springboard is erected high at the stern of the RO ro ship. After the ship berths at the dock, the springboard is put down, and the freight vehicles loaded with containers drive up and down to carry out container loading and unloading operations. Freight vehicles on RO ro ships can not only enter and exit from the stern of the ship, but also drive to all decks of the cabin for container loading and unloading.
Springboards are mostly set at the stern, but also at the bow and side of the ship.
What are the disadvantages of rolling up and down the ship?
The disadvantages of RO ro ship are high center of gravity and poor stability. The hull structure of RO ro ships is characterized by a large number of deck layers, generally 2-6 layers. In order to ensure the unimpeded passage of vehicles in the hold, there is no transverse bulkhead in the cargo hold, and there are few supports in the hold. Therefore, the structural strength and sinking resistance of RO ro ships are poor.
Ro ro ships are generally powered by diesel engines. The speed is about 20 knots, and the speed can exceed 25 knots. In the future, RO ro ships can adopt new power units with faster speed. For example, high-speed ro ro ships using LNG fuel and hybrid power.
