Driving demand

摘要

The introduction in the early 1960s of vessels designed to carry vehicles as well as dry bulk revolutionised the international vehicle trade. The arrival of the 'roll on-roll off' (ro-ro) system, whereby cars could be loaded onto decks simply by driving up ramps, quickly superseded the 'lift on-lift off' system where they were lifted one-by-one onto a vessel by crane. Loading speeds went up, cargo damage went down, and many vessels, such as Japan's first ro-ro ship, the 1,200 vehicle-capacity Oppama Maru, retained the ability to carry bulk cargoes on their return journeys. The first Pure Car Carriers (PCCs) arrived in the mid-1960s, stripped of cranes and designed only to carry small passenger cars. Most vessels were built to serve the burgeoning Japanese car export market and had decks with less than 2m clearance to fit as many cars on board as possible. In the late-1970s the Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) emerged as the vessel of choice for car transportation. These were configured to carry agricultural equipment, lorries and other so-called High and Heavy (HH) cargo, as well as passenger vehicles.