Roll-on/roll-off, or RORO, is a type of shipping that is typically used for the transportation of heavy machinery such as vehicles, that can be moved onto a ship via a ramp.
This type of shipping is used for items that necessitate being transported by sea, so, for example, if you were to be looking at shipping your motorhome from the proposed expansion at the Port of Immingham to the mainland continent, you would likely be using RORO shipping.
It can also circumvent the need to pick up large items and vehicles by a crane to load them onto a ship, known as lift-on/lift-off, or LOLO shipping. This can take longer than RORO and has high risks of times being damaged during shipping and loading.
There are several types of RORO ships. They are:
- LMSR – Large medium speed roll-off is a ship that is specifically designed to have military cargo held on board. Some of these have been converted to ship vehicles for civilians.
- ConRO – A ConRO ship is a type of RORO ship where both RORO and LOLO shipping methods are used. The way this works is that containers are stored on top of the ship while vehicles are stored below deck and rolled on.
- RoLo – A roll-on/lift-off ship is a ship that has a deck where cars can be rolled on and off but also has other decks where a crane needs to be used to get the cargo on and off of the ship.
- ROPAX – This is a type of ship with roll-on/roll-off capabilities for cars but also can carry passengers. This is what ferries that carry cars are typically referred to as.
Roll-on/roll-off shipping is the most effective and modern way to transport large vehicles across seas and oceans, as well as helping facilitate faster shipping times for overseas shipments.
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