Metro witness the launch of environmental first – reducing vehicle carbon emissions before they have ever been driven

Operating a fleet of 17 pure car and truck carriers, United European Car Carriers (UECC) is the leading RoRo provider of short sea services for cars and other rolling cargo. Leading customer, Metro, was invited to Zeeburgge, to witness the naming of the world’s 1st hybrid pure car and truck carrier.

UECC, the Norwegian RoRo transporter of rolling cargo held a naming ceremony for its first dual-fuel LNG battery hybrid pure car and truck carrier (PCTC), the vessel Auto Advance, at the Port of Zeebrugge’s, ICO Bastenaken Terminal on the 26th October.

Present at the naming ceremony were Metro directors Tom Fernihough and Matt Weight, who are responsible for key automotive, construction and commercial/industrial vehicle accounts, and consequently big volume users of PCTC RoRo services.

The Auto Advance measures 28 by 169 meters in length (that’s big – think of two football fields), with capacity for 3600 vehicles, over 10 cargo decks and is said to be the world’s first vessel of its type. It will provide significant gains in energy efficiency and emissions reduction as it enters service this year to boost UECC’s efforts to decarbonise its fleet.

It is part of a new build trio of multi-fuel LNG battery hybrid PCTCs that UECC hope will make a real difference for the environment and for their business, as new green regulations are set to shift the RoRo market playing field.

LNG battery hybrid technology, together with an optimised hull design for better fuel efficiency, will enable these new builds to exceed the IMO requirement to cut carbon intensity by 40% from 2008 levels within 2030. Emissions of carbon dioxide will be reduced by around 25%, SOx and particulate matter by 90% and NOx by 85% from the use of LNG, while the new builds will also meet the IMO’s Tier 3 NOx emissions limitations for the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Tom Fernihough. “Delighted to attend the naming ceremony of UECC’s latest vessel the MV Auto Advance. A significant innovation in hybrid technology for a greener environment . Many thanks to UECC for their investment to a cleaner solution.”

Matt Weight. “Metro is committed to extending our zero-emission strategy as far down our customers’ supply chains as possible, which is why we welcome this positive move towards decarbonisation, by a key carrier partner.”

There is much more to come from Metro, on the environmental front, in the very near future which we will continue to announce as we roll out further initiatives with our partners and within the organisation. This is beyond a focus – it is our mission to ensure our customers have the slickest and most environmentally creative supply chains available at any time, regardless of the external influences.

To learn more about our commercial/industrial solutions contact Tom Fernihough, or Matt Weight for our automotive solutions and Simon George for our ECO/MVT, carbon measuring and offsetting solutions. We have the end to end movement of the most valuable cargo covered – with complete visibility and ability…