VESSEL REVIEW | Blue Aspire & Blue Heritage – Dual-fuel car carrier pair to serve Mediterranean–Northern Europe routes

Norwegian shipping company United European Car Carriers (UECC) recently took delivery of two new pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) in a series.

Built by Chinese shipyard CIMC Raffles, Blue Aspire and Blue Heritage each have a length of 199.9 metres (656.14 feet), a beam of 37.98 metres (124.6 feet), a maximum draught of 10 metres (30 feet), a gross tonnage of 69,250, a capacity of 7,000 CEUs spread across 12 vehicle decks, and dual-fuel engines that can run on LNG and that can deliver speeds of up to 19 knots.

Fitted with bio-LNG-ready propulsion

Four of the vehicle decks on each PCTC are hoistable to permit the carriage of high and heavy freight such as buses and trailers as well as breakbulk cargo. The stern ramp will meanwhile allow the loading and unloading of freight units of 250 tons each.

The PCTCs’ propulsion can also be modified in the future to permit operation on liquefied biomethane or bio-LNG, which UECC said can generate even fewer emissions compared to standard LNG.

Serving an expanded trade route stretching to Turkey

UECC will operate Blue Aspire and Blue Heritage together with another four vessels on a route between the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, traversing the Turkish ports of Efesan, Yarimca and Autoport, Cuxhaven in Germany, and Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Per Christian Mørk, UECC’s Chief Operating Officer, said that the deployment of the new PCTCs will boost capacity and sailing frequency on the trade route.

The latest fleet additions will increase the number of UECC-operated vessels plying the North-South network to seven, taking in a total of 12 ports on two routes. It will also increase the size of UECC’s owned and chartered fleet to 16 PCTCs, including six dual and multi-fuel LNG vessels, three with battery hybrid capability, delivered in the past decade

Blue Aspire and Blue Heritage were designed in compliance with Lloyd’s Register requirements. Both ships are currently sailing under the flag of Liberia.