Thermopylae

Giving first form to a new generation of deep-sea ro-ro/vehicle carriers embodying the Post-Panamax High Efficiency RoRo (HERO) design concept, the 75,245gt Thermopylae was recently phased into Asia/Europe service with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL). Capable of taking a maximum car payload of about 8,000 car-equivalent units (CEUs), while offering considerable flexibility for a variety of vehicles and other wheeled or trailer-borne cargo, Thermopylae leads a series of four ordered by Oslo-based Wilh.Wilhelmsen from Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in Mokpo, South Korea. Four further vessels of the HERO type, but with differences in technical specification, have been contracted by Wallenius Lines, Wilhelmsen’s Swedish partner in WWL, from Chinese builder Tianjin Xingang Shipyard. The entire, eight-vessel WWL programme is due to be completed in 2017. Such is the extent of cargo carrying capability offered by the new class that the ro-ro designation is more apt than the PCTC (pure car/truck carrier) categorisation. Compared to preceding Panamax PCTCs of 6,400/6,500CEU capacity, the wider-beam HERO type achieves a reduction of some 10-15% in fuel consumption per cargo unit. http://www.motorship.com/news101/ships-and-shipyards/wwls-next-generation-ro-ro-in-detail