UECC takes delivery of new 7,000CEU car carrier

Norwegian shipping company United European Car Carriers (UECC) took delivery of a new pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) on Wednesday, January 1.

Built by Chinese shipyard CIMC Raffles, Blue Heritage is a sister ship of Blue Aspire, which was handed over to UECC in early December 2024.

The newbuild has a length of 200 metres, a capacity of 7,000 CEUs spread across 12 vehicle decks, and dual-fuel engines that can also run on LNG. Four of the vehicle decks are hoistable to permit the carriage of high and heavy (H&H) cargo.

UECC will operate Blue Heritage and Blue Aspire together with another four vessels on a route between the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, traversing the Turkish ports of Yenikoy and Autoport, the German port of Cuxhaven, and Zeebrugge, Belgium, every 4.5 days.

Blue Heritage's propulsion can also be modified in the future to permit operation on liquefied biomethane, which UECC claims can generate even fewer emissions compared to LNG.