Hoegh Autoliners takes delivery of third car carrier in series

Norwegian shipping company Höegh Autoliners has taken delivery of a new pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) fitted with environment-friendly technologies.

Höegh Australis is the third in the 12-strong Aurora-class designed for the transport of rolling cargo such as up to 9,100 cars, agricultural machinery, and mining equipment as well as general solo cargo.

The newbuild has an LOA of 199.92 metres, a beam of 37.62 metres, a draught of 10.8 metres, a depth of 14.52 metres, and a deadweight of 25,563. According to the owner, these dimensions make the Aurora-class PCTCs the largest car carriers ever built.

The freight will be carried on 14 decks including five liftable decks. All decks have been laid out to also house electric vehicles, and these are also strengthened to allow transport of heavier project cargo if needed.

Construction of the Aurora-class ships is being undertaken at China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) in fulfilment of a contract originally awarded in early 2022. Design work on the vessels was provided by Finnish naval architecture firm Deltamarin.