Roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo like cars and trucks. They load and unload vehicles via built-in ramps, usually at the stern but sometimes also at the bow or sides. There are different types including car carriers, truck & car carriers, and ferries that also carry passengers. Ro-ro ships measure cargo space in lane meters versus tonnes for other ships.
Roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo like cars and trucks. They load and unload vehicles via built-in ramps, usually at the stern but sometimes also at the bow or sides. There are different types including car carriers, truck & car carriers, and ferries that also carry passengers. Ro-ro ships measure cargo space in lane meters versus tonnes for other ships.
Roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo like cars and trucks. They load and unload vehicles via built-in ramps, usually at the stern but sometimes also at the bow or sides. There are different types including car carriers, truck & car carriers, and ferries that also carry passengers. Ro-ro ships measure cargo space in lane meters versus tonnes for other ships.
Roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo like cars and trucks. They load and unload vehicles via built-in ramps, usually at the stern but sometimes also at the bow or sides. There are different types including car carriers, truck & car carriers, and ferries that also carry passengers. Ro-ro ships measure cargo space in lane meters versus tonnes for other ships.
Roll- on/roll-off ships are vessels that are used to carry wheeled cargo.
The roll-on/roll-off ship was defined in the
November 1995 amendments to Chapter II-1 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 as being “a passenger ship with ro-ro cargo spaces or special category spaces”
The ro-ro ship is different from Lo-Lo (lift on-lift
off) ship that uses a crane to load the cargo. The vehicles in the ship are loaded and unloaded by means of built-in ramps. Normally these ramps are made towards the stern (backside) of the ship. In some ships, they are also found on the bow side (front) as well as the sides. The vessel can be of both military and civilian types.
There are various types of ro-ro vessels, such as
ferries, cruise ferries, cargo ships, and barges. The ro-ro vessels that are exclusively used for transporting cars and trucks across oceans are known as Pure Car Carriers (PCC) and Pure Truck & Car Carriers (PCTC) respectively. Unlike other cargos that are measured in metric tonnes, the ro-ro cargo is measured in a unit called lanes in meters (LIMs). LIM is calculated by multiplying cargo length in meters by the number of decks and by its width in lanes. The lane width will differ from vessel to vessel and there are a number of industry standards.
Roll-on/Roll-off Ships Stowage and Securing of
Vehicles
• Shippers’ special advice or guidelines
regarding handling and stowage of individual vehicles should be observed. • Vehicles should, so far as is possible, be aligned in a fore and aft direction. • Vehicles should not be stowed across water spray fire curtains. • Vehicles should be closely stowed athwartships so that, in the event of any failure in the securing arrangement’s or from any other cause, the transverse movement is restricted. However, sufficient distance should be provided between vehicles to permit safe access for the crew and for passengers getting into and out of vehicles and going to and from accesses serving vehicle spaces. • Safe means of access to securing arrangement’s, safety equipment, and operational controls should be provided and properly maintained. Stairways and escape routes from spaces below the vehicle deck should be kept clear. • Vehicles should not obstruct the operating controls of bow and stern doors, entrances to accommodation spaces, ladders, stairways, companionways or access hatches, fire fighting equipment, controls to deck scupper valves and controls to fire dampers in ventilation trunks. • Parking brakes, where provided, of each vehicle or of each element of a combination of vehicles should be applied. • Semi-trailers should not be supported on their landing legs during sea transport unless the landing legs are specially designed for that purpose and so marked (see paragraph 4.1.4). • Semi-trailers should not be supported on their landing legs during sea transportation unless the deck plating has adequate strength for the point loadings. • Uncoupled semi-trailers should be supported by trestles or similar devices placed in the immediate area of the drawplates so that the connection of the fifth-wheel to the kingpin is not restricted. • Depending on the area of operation, the predominant weather conditions and the characteristics of the ship, freight vehicles should be stowed so that the chassis is kept as static as possible by not allowing free play in the suspension. This can be done by securing the vehicle to the deck as tightly as the lashing tensioning device will permit or by jacking up the freight vehicle chassis prior to securing or, in the case of compressed air suspension systems, by first releasing the air pressure where this facility is provided. • Since compressed air suspension systems may lose air, adequate arrangements should be made to prevent the slackening off of lashings as a result of air leakage during the voyage. Such arrangements may include the jacking up of the vehicle or the release of air from the suspension system where this facility is provided.
Variations of ro-ro vessels
There are different kinds of ro-ro vessels. Depending on their characteristics or the cargo they transport we can find: • Carcarriers: Those which transport cars exclusively. They are also called Pure Car Carriers (PCC). • Pure car/truck carrier (PCTC): The ones
that transport trucks as well as cars.
Those vessels have multiple decks specifically for vehicle transportation and some of them can even be made larger so they can fit bigger vehicles. • ConRo: or RoCon is the hybrid vessel between a RORO ship and a container ship. This type of vessel stacks containerized freight on the top decks and vehicles are stored below decks. • RoLo: is another hybrid that unites roll-on and lift-off. A vessel with ramps for the vehicle decks but with other cargo decks only accessible when the tides change or by the use of a crane. • RoPax: is the acronym for roll-on/roll-off passenger, a vessel built for freight vehicle transport along with passenger accommodation. An example of this are ferries and cruiseferries.
▪ The distance between securing points in
the longitudinal direction should in general not exceed 2.5 m. However, there may be a need for the securing points in the forward and after parts of the ship to be more closely spaced than they are amidships. ▪ The athwartships spacing of securing points should not be less than 2.8 m nor more than 3 m. However, there may be a need for the securing points in the forward and after parts of the ship to be more closely spaced than they are amidships. ▪ The maximum securing load (MSL) of each securing point should be not less than 100 kN. If the securing point is designed to accommodate more than one lashing (y lashings), the MSL should be not less than y x 100 kN. Securing points on road vehicles Securing points on road vehicles should be designed for securing the road vehicles to the ship and should have an aperture capable of accepting only one lashing. The securing point and aperture should permit varying directions of the lashing to the ship’s deck. However, the same number of not less than two or not more than six securing points should be provided on each side of the road vehicle. Securing points on vehicles should be so located as to ensure effective restraint of the vehicle by the lashings. Furthermore, securing points should be capable of transferring the forces from the lashings to the chassis of the road vehicle and should never be fitted to bumpers or axles unless these are specially constructed and the forces are transmitted directly to the chassis. What is more, securing points should be so located that lashings can be readily and safely attached, particularly where side- guards are fitted to the vehicle. Additionally, the internal free passage of each securing point’s aperture should be not less than 80 mm, but the aperture need not be circular in shape. Stowage Depending on the area of operation, the predominant weather conditions and the characteristics of the ship, road vehicles should be stowed so that the chassis are kept as static as possible by not allowing free play in the suspension of the vehicles. This can be done, for example, by compressing the springs by tightly securing the vehicle to the deck, by jacking up the chassis prior to securing the vehicle or by releasing the air pressure on compressed air suspension systems. The air pressure should also be released on every vehicle fitted with such a system if the voyage is of more than 24 hours duration. If practicable, the air pressure should be released also on voyages of a shorter duration.
If the air pressure is not released, the vehicle
should be jacked up to prevent any slackening of the lashings resulting from any air leakage from the system during the voyage. Stowage should be arranged in accordance with the following: ▪ The parking brakes of each vehicle or of each element of a combination of vehicles should be applied and locked. ▪ Semi-trailers, by the nature of their design, should not be supported on their landing legs during sea transport unless the landing legs are specially designed for that purpose and so marked. An uncoupled semi-trailer should be supported by a trestle or similar device placed in the immediate area of the drawplate so that the connection of the fifth-wheel to the kingpin is not restricted. Semi-trailer designers should consider the space and the reinforcements required and the selected areas should be clearly marked.
