World’s Largest Car Carrier Design Receives Approval in Principle

Naval architecture firm Deltamarin has received Approval in Principle (AiP) from DNV for the design of a 11,000 CEU pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs), making them the largest vessels to date in the car carrier market.

The LNG-powered vessel features high energy efficiency, excellent EEDI performance, and innovative features such as solar panels, waste heat recovery, and air lubrication.

Deltamarin, which is a part of China Merchants Group, and China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) have been collaborating on the development of a new PCTC design.

The capacity of car carriers seems to be ever-growing at the moment. The current largest PCTCs are Hoegh Autoliners’ Horizon-class with 8,500 CEU capacity, but they will soon be surpassed by the company’s new Aurora class with 9,100 CEU capacity.

Also, this week Seaspan Corporation ordered a series of PCTCs with a capacity of 10,800 CEUs with deliveries starting in 2027, marking the containership lessor’s entry into the car carrier market. The ships will be under long-term charter to Hyundai Glovis.

The new ships are being introduced at a time when the industry is facing scrutiny over safety following several high-profile fires involving PCTCs and increased demand for the transportation of electric vehicles.

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