RoRo specialist United European Car Carriers (UECC) are responding to the growing customer demand on its North-South network with the addition of a new vessel. The new addition will enable the operator to boost sailing capacity and add port calls on its trade route. 

UECC has fixed the Auto Way, formerly Höegh Chiba under a long-term charter. The vessel will start its service from the end of October this year. The 2006-built Auto Way was acquired by UECC’s joint owner Wallenius Lines from Höegh Autoliners.

“UECC has been successful in attracting new contractual volumes from both existing and new customers that has resulted in an increased capacity requirement on this route,” says UECC’s COO Per Christian Mørk. “The addition of another vessel will enable us to increase both cargo capacity and sailing frequency, as well as expand this network with additional ports in co-operation with our customers to provide tailor-made services.”

The largest trading loop operated by UECC, which absorbs the largest number of vessels, will now include the ports of Cuxhaven, Germany and Efesan, Turkey. Currently, four ships cover the eight ports in Germany, Belgium, the UK, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey with an eight-day sailing frequency. Following the capacity boost, the number of UECC vessels operating on the route will increase to five and will now include 10 ports. This enhancement aims to further improve the high regularity of operations on the major regional service between northern and southern Europe.

The Auto Way, with a capacity of 6000 CEU, was chosen due to the flexibility of its deck configuration with the ability to transport breakbulk cargoes as well as a wide range of rolling high and heavy equipment, providing flexible capacity for UECC customers, according to Mørk.

Space to grow

UECC now has 14 owned and chartered units in its fleet following the latest vessel addition. The company is looking to expand its fleet even further and plans to add another vessel later this year to meet the growing market demand for environmentally friendly maritime transportation. This move comes after UECC’s initial investments in five dual-fuel and multi-fuel LNG and battery hybrid newbuilds.

“By adding a vessel, we are demonstrating our clear ambition to improve our services to current and future partners. Furthermore, we see future growth potential based on market requirements, both in the shorter and longer term,” Mørk says.

Wallenius Lines’ CEO Erik Nøklebye added, “The purchase from Höegh Autoliners is in line with the strategy of being actively engaged in this shipping segment through innovation, design, building, management of and investing in both used and new tonnage, offering direct support to our partner companies.”

Mørk says the company intends to operate the Auto Way with a significant proportion of biofuels, as is the case with other vessels in its fleet, as it seeks to minimise environmental impact and mitigate costs exposure for its customers by cutting their Scope 3 emissions amid new green regulations, notably the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and FuelEU Maritime.