*Note: This is a guest post written by one of our readers, Hariesh Manaadiar. For more information on how to submit a guest post, please send an email to Janelle [at] unlimitedwebsolutions [dot] com or see our guidelines for guest posting.

Hello all. My name is Hariesh Manaadiar, and I am based in Johannesburg, South Africa. I have been involved in the shipping industry for the past 19 years, and mong the ships and operations that I have handled in these years are container, break bulk and Ro-Ro vessels (Ro-Ro = Roll On-Roll Off).

Among these, car carriers are quite unique in their nature of operation.. Compared to the number of vehicles that are off loaded and loaded onto a ship, the turnaround time of a PCC (Pure Car Carrier) or PCTC (Pure Car & Truck Carrier) is much less.

What is a PCC?

Now for those of you who haven’t seen a PCC, imagine a 5-7 story floating parking lot, some of them with adjustable floor levels so that it can accommodate cargo that is normally taller than others. PCTC’s can carry high and heavy equipment like excavators, graders, cranes etc. also in addition to standard cars. However, the downside to a PCC is that it can accommodate ONLY cargo that can be driven in and out.

When loading, the vehicles are driven into the ship, then it is lashed onto the floor of the ship to prevent it from moving around during the passage. At the point of discharge, the vehicles are unleashed and driven out to the parking area in the port and delivered to the relevant consignees.

Although what I’ve said above seems pretty straightforward, there are many aspects to loading a PCC or PCTC..

Firstly there is the storage to consider. This means that the Chief Officer or Cargo Officer of the ship must find space for each and every vehicle on board the ship. Add to this the variety of the vehicles that a single ship can carry – sedans, hatchbacks, coupes, 4×4’s, trucks, buses, locomotives, excavators, cranes.. Spreading this cargo among the various decks could be quite a task especially when you consider the number of units involved. Some of the ships can take up to 6000 units per voyage!

Secondly the safety of all the vehicles and the crew on board also depends on how the vehicles are stored on board and how they are secured. I have been witness to a couple of accidents on board the ships because the cargo was not stowed and secured properly..

In our port of Durban 5340 units is the record for the number of units ever to be discharged on a single ship.

To get a better idea about Ro-Ro vessels, operations, you can visit the websites of any of the big ro-ro operators in the world.. http://www.eukor.com or http://www.hoegh.com/hoegh/ or http://www.nyk.com/english/service/general/car.htm

[photo credit: Radio Rover on Flickr]

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