Ro-ro trades back on track again

The leading ro-ro specialists are adding to their fleets as project-related services increase, writes Steve Cameron

In the 1980s, West Africa become one of the leading deepsea ro-ro trades. The demand in this vessel type was stimulated by a combination of the berthing constraints, and the demand for tonnage to carry the high volumes of ro-ro traffic often associated with project cargo movements. The forerunner to OT Africa Line (Otal), BFI was one of the first to operate ro-ro ships into west Africa, chartering its first vessel and hiring a bulldozer to level an area of land so it could land the stern ramp. Having discharged its first cargo of 12 trucks, the vessel sailed 12 hours later, steaming passed rows of vessels that had been at anchor for two years or more. The age of the African congestion beater was born. Initially most of the vessels were quite small, in the 1,200-2,000 lane-metre bracket, with stern ramps that enabled them to moor stern onto the quay between existing vessels, and thus avoiding taking up further quay space and reducing congestion. Hoegh Line developed its own West Africa ro-ro, with a shallow draught and a deck height expanded from the normal 4.5-metre trailer height that enabled double stacked containers to be carried under deck. These vessels were later bought and operated by Delmas. Italian specialist, Grimaldi, having commenced with car carriers, developed its own multipurpose ro-ro vessels. Otal also developed bespoke vessels, with the introduction of the German purpose-built Kintampo, which has both stern and quarter ramps at double width and is able to accommodate two 40ft containers and trailers, and has a design stability that enabled a significant number of containers to be stacked three and four tiers high on the weather deck. As the trade became more containerised, the vessels increased in size to accommodate increasing numbers of containers. The Otal-operated vessels have 4,000 lane metres-plus, with capacity for more than 500 containers and 600-1,000 cars. However, currently Grimaldi continues as the leading ro-ro carrier from Europe, and since its purchase of north Atlantic specialist, ACL, it has advertised its Republica-class container/ro-ro vessels with a capacity of up to 650teu for containers, 300 trucks/tractors/buses, and 1,600 cars. The vessels call at Baltimore and New York before sailing directly for the main ports in the Dakar-Lagos range, and connecting with secondary ports in that range, and those in the Douala-Luanda range. The increase in containers required new cargo handling equipment. For the operators of this new breed of con-ro vessels operating to West Africa, this meant investing in fleets of low masted ro-ro forklift trucks, terminal tractors and trailers, as well as equipment to handle containers to and from the shoreside stack. For those operating a fleet of three or four ro-ro vessels such as Otal, Delmas and Grimaldi, this quickly became quite an expensive and intensive logistical exercise, requiring significant spares and technical support service to ensure the equipment was 100% reliable and able to work 24 hours a day during vessel operations, and in a ship-board environment where limited manoeuvring room and overweight containers caused damage and significant wear and tear, especially to tyres. The overheads from the combination of the investment in cargo handling equipment facilities in Africa, expat workshop managers, drivers and expensive spare parts added about $20-30 per container discharged. On top of this, the ship operator still had to pay the standard stevedoring tariff, although in some ports it was possible to get a slight reduction. As container volumes continued to grow there was a general switch towards geared container vessels. Once the larger players such as Maersk entered the market, box rates started to fall making it less cost-effective to carry containers on ro-ro vessels. In the latter part of the 1990s, as ro-ro and project cargo volumes declined and charter rates increased, niche operators started to shed their ro-ro vessels for handy-sized geared container vessels. A decade later, we are seeing a resurgence of ro-ro vessels in the trade, due mainly to the increase in project-related cargo generated by the boom in prices in the oil and gas and mining sectors. CMA CGM is reported to be close to ordering four 3,900 lane-metre ro-ro vessels, plus two options, for its subsidiary Delmas, which is specialised in liner services to and from Africa. The vessels, to be built at an unspecified Croatian shipyard, will be delivered in 2010. The vessels will be 26,700dwt, with a maximum box carrying capacity of 1,700teu. They will be able to go up to 20 knots, and will have a length of 210 metres, take a draught of up to 10.5 metres, and a ramp capability of 250 tonnes.

Earlier this year, Grimaldi placed a $430m order for five ro-ro vessels. The first ship is scheduled to enter service in spring 2010, with the others following with a few months interval between 2010 and 2011. They are almost identical sisters of another five ships contracted with Uljanik Yard of Croatia, which are slated for delivery this year and the next. In line with Grimaldi’s strategy, these new ships will be highly flexible in terms of cargo mix. Grimaldi’s Atlantic network of services comprises a set of regular line connections between North Europe/West Africa; north Europe/South America; East coast of US/West Africa; as well as South America/West Africa. Of the remaining players on the market, Mediterranean-based operator, Messina Lines, continues to operate four multipurpose ro-ro vessels to West Africa, while Nile Dutch continues its focus with ro-ro and small multipurpose vessels from Europe to south-west Africa, where it is a leading operator into Angola. Given the Lusophone trading connections it has also been expanding its services between Africa and Brazil, and now offers services from the Indian sub-continent and Far East to south-west Africa. Baco Lines has served West Africa for more than 25 years, and continues to operate its con-barge vessels from Europe, focused mostly on Nigeria. Of the four trades that Nordana is involved in, one is a conventional service that triangulates between the US Gulf, West Africa and South America. In April 2007 it added the ro-ro vessel, Frederiksborg, to its existing six-strong ro-ro fleet. cs