VESSEL REVIEW | Liao He Kou & Min Jiang Kou – COSCO Shipping's new car carriers fitted with advanced freight safety features

China’s COSCO Shipping has begun operational sailings of two new pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) in a series built by local shipyard the Fujian Shipbuilding Industry Group. Liao He Kou (廖河口) and Min Jiang Kou (闽江口) belongs to a series of 16 PCTCs designed by the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute (SDARI) and fitted with dual-fuel engines that can also run on LNG.

The newbuilds each have an LOA of 199.9 metres (655.8 feet), a beam of 38 metres (120 feet), and a range of 12,000 nautical miles. The IMO Tier III-compliant propulsion arrangement also includes a bow thruster while space will be available for the installation of PV panels to shoulder the electrical load. Future plans include modification of the propulsion systems to also enable operation on low-emission biofuels.

Built for safe and efficient vehicle transport

Thirteen decks are available for the transport of a maximum of 7,500 CEUs. The freight that can be carried include cars, lorries, and engineering vehicles.

The hold spaces are fitted with CCTV cameras, a battery data monitoring system, and a safety early warning mechanism. The latter system can simultaneously monitor up to 5,000 embarked electric vehicles to help minimise the risk of battery-related onboard fires.

The CCTV system is meanwhile integrated into COSCO Shipping’s logistics supply chain, thus enabling precise vehicle positioning during transport. Customers that charter the ships for transporting their vehicles will therefore know the exact location of their vehicles on any of the 13 decks on each PCTC. Also, with the aid of a specially-developed no fit polygon (NFP) algorithm, each PCTC’s intelligent ship stowage system can facilitate rapid simultaneous stowage across multiple vessels.

Significantly reduced emissions

Each vessel incorporates other numerous environment-friendly technologies to help conserve energy and reduce emissions during operations. COSCO Shipping said that, compared to ships powered by traditional fuel oil, the new PCTCs can achieve 20 per cent lower energy consumption, 27 per cent fewer carbon emissions, 30 per cent fewer NOx emissions, 99 per cent fewer SOx emissions, and 90 per cent fewer emissions of particulate matter.

The owner also expects that the vessels will be able to achieve a decarburisation rate of over 24 per cent. Taking a typical round-trip voyage from China to Europe as an example, using LNG as an alternative fuel can reduce CO2 emissions by more than 2,100 tonnes per voyage.

Liao He Kou and Min Jiang Kou currently sail under the Marshall Islands flag and are being operated by COSCO Shipping subsidiary COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers. All 16 ships in the series are scheduled to be delivered to the owner before the end of 2026. By that time, COSCO Shipping will have a 30-strong fleet of PCTCs capable of handling a total transportation volume of 700,000 vehicles each year.