Blue-Ridge-Highway

The Port of Port Hedland has welcomed its first conventional roll-on/roll-off (RORO) vessel, giving the industry a more cost-effective way of delivering cargo to the region. The 180m ‘Blue Ridge Highway’ arrived on Saturday evening and left Sunday morning. The visit was the culmination of 18 months of planning by Pilbara Ports Authority, vessel owners K-Line and cargo receivers Sumitomo. The vessel started its journey in Japan and stopped at Fremantle Port on its way to Port Hedland. The vessel’s cargo of offshore piping had been pre-assembled onto 22 separate trailers. The RORO vessel’s open vehicle deck design allowed the cargo to be unloaded in approximately 1.5 hours. Cranes would normally be used to unload a non-RORO vessel, which can take up to 12 hours.