ACL orders giant conros

To be delivered in 2015, the new vessels will be the first of their type ever built. They will be bigger, faster, greener and more efficient than their predecessors. The G4\’s will have a container capacity of 3,800 teu plus 28,900 sq m of ro-ro space, with a car capacity of 1,307 vehicles. Speed will be increased by 10%, yet fuel consumption per teu will be reduced by 50%. The new ships will continue to employ cellguides on deck, a feature that will allow ACL to extend its record of its ships never having lost a container overside during the last 30 years.

The innovative design was the brainchild of International Maritime Advisors (IMA) of Dragoer, Denmark, who successfully solved the problem of high ballast on conro vessels. Virtually all conro vessels today stow containers on deck and lighter ro-ro cargo underdeck. Because of the significant air space that naturally occurs on ro-ro decks compared to the denser stowage of containers, most of the weight rides high on a standard conro vessel, requiring a great deal of ballast for stability. IMA developed the concept of putting all the ro-ro cargo midships, and stowing the containers in cells fore and aft of the ro-ro section. This results in cargo replacing ballast and a much more efficient use of vessel space.

“We have taken our time to make this decision because we had to get it right,” explained Andrew Abbott, president & CEO of ACL. “The dramatic increase in efficiency is essential for our long term competitiveness. We will have the equivalent of 6,500 teu containerships in terms of earning power and economies of scale, but with far lower costs.”