With the two new ships, DFDS has ordered four large ro-ro ships to service freight customers across the North Sea from 2019 and 2020. Last year DFDS signed a contract with the Chinese shipyard Jinling for the construction of two ro-ro ships, which with their 6,700 lane metre load capacity and space for 450 trailers, are DFDS’ biggest ships ever. Now the company has decided to order another two of these large ships.
“The ships form part of our new building programme that underpins our ability to deliver the transport capacity required by our customers and our continuous pursuit of efficiency improvements,” says Niels Smedegaard, CEO of DFDS.
The ships, like their sister ships, are the first DFDS-owned vessels built according to the new IMO EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) regulations, which set significantly lower limits for energy consumption and emissions in relation to the ship’s capacity and engine power. Overall, they will reduce energy consumption and emissions by more than 25% per transported trailer compared to current standards.
“The ships are equipped with a unique ramp system with three independent stern ramps and internal ramps on each side in the ships. This means that they can be loaded and unloaded in a very short time so they can offer the combination of greater efficiency and capacity that can support our customers’ growth in their trade across the North Sea and enable them to better service their customers,” says Peder Gellert Pedersen, Executive Vice President and head of DFDS’ Shipping network.
In addition to the four Jinling ships, the programme so far includes two ro-ro ships under construction in Flensburg.
