WWL adds new RoRo vessel to its HERO class fleet
MV Theben is the latest edition to the growing number of High Efficiency RoRo (HERO) class vessels being introduced by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL). The vessels are designed to fit the new Panama locks, which will open in June this year, the Company said on Thursday.
Theben joins her sister vessels Thalatta and Thermopylae in the line of Post-Panamax vessels, which have been built to accommodate a greater variety of cargo and be more energy efficient. This is the third in a total of eight new RoRo vessels that will commence service for WWL between 2015 and 2017.
Like the previously launched HERO vessels, Theben measures almost 200 metres long, 36.5 metres wide and features five liftable car decks, allowing for multiple configurations and a wide variety of customer cargo. The vessel can transport up to 8,000 car equivalent units. With the new draft, she can call ports with shallower depths, increasing her geographical scope of service.
The vessel has a specially designed hull shape, rudder and bow to reduce drag and wave resistance, thus improving fuel efficiency. She is also fitted with an exhaust gas cleaning system that reduces sulphur emissions to below 0.1 per cent in compliance with ECA regulations and removes 70 per cent of particulate matter. All HERO class vessels comply with the International Maritime Organisation’s guidelines on ship recycling.
On her maiden voyage she will be employed in the Asia-Europe trade, where loading started April 18 in Yokohama, Japan.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics is a privately-owned Norwegian/Swedish shipping company, established in 1999 and co-owned by the two shipping companies Wallenius Lines and Wilh. Wilhelmsen. WWL offers a range of logistics services, including supply chain management, ocean transportation, terminal handling, inland distribution and technical services. It is one of the world's largest companies in the transporting of rolling equipment; automobiles, heavy machinery (mining, construction, farming equipment), yachts, trains, power stations and others. Headquartered in Oslo and Stockholm, with main regional offices in New York, Tokyo and Sydney, the company has 3,300 employees worldwide.
