Norwegian shipping company Höegh Autoliners will soon take delivery of a new pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) fitted with environment-friendly technologies. Höegh Aurora is the first 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.
Höegh Aurora and seven other PCTCs in the Aurora-class will run primarily on LNG. These vessels' dual-fuel engines are designed to be converted to run on ammonia. These eight vessels also have DNV's ammonia and methanol ready notation, with the main engine on each ship provided by MAN and the bridge system supplied by Kongsberg.
The ammonia engine technology will be ready in 2026, allowing Höegh Autoliners to build the last four Aurora-class vessels to run on ammonia from the start. These ships will be delivered in 2027.
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.
Höegh Aurora will be delivered and formally named before the middle of August 2024.