Since 2023, only six deep-sea Container RoRo (ConRo) vessels have entered service, all built for the Italian Grimaldi Group.
While numerous other companies have exited the sector over the years, typically opting for pure Container Ships rather than ConRos, Grimaldi is the only industry player that still believes in the concept of transporting containers, cars, trucks and wheeled project cargoes on a single purpose-built ship.
Outside of the commercial sector meanwhile, ConRo vessels do remain popular for military logistics.
In 2023, 2024 and the first half of this year, 942 container ship newbuildings entered the liner fleet, adding 6.4 Mteu of capacity. This compares to a mere 12,942 teu for the aforementioned six Grimaldi ConRos.
The six new ships were sisters of the Grimaldi’s ‘G5’ type, a design tailored for services to West and Central Africa. They were built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) and their design is an evolution of the earlier ‘G3’ and ‘G4’ classes from the same Korean yard. Unlike earlier ConRos, the ‘G5’ comes with an innovation: the ships have a few cellular holds below deck.
Source: Alphaliner
