Five-year Contract to Bring Cars from Asia to Europe has ‘Significant Value’
Höegh Autoliners has signed a five-year deal with a major Asian OEM to transport cars from Asia to Europe.
The Norway-based carrier, which operates a fleet of 40 pure car and truck carriers, or PCTCs, said the contract with the unnamed carmaker would begin in April and had “significant value”.
The company said the deal marked a “milestone” in its strategy of building long-term relationships with customers in key trade networks.
“Building a sustainable contract backlog and working strategically with major OEMs to solve their long-term transportation needs is our top priority and how we want to deploy a major portion of our capacity,” said Andreas Enger, CEO of Höegh Autoliners.
Earlier this year, Höegh Autoliners signed a deal with China Merchant Heavy Industry to manufacture a series of Aurora-class vessels, billed as the largest and most environmentally friendly car carriers ever built.
The first eight Auroras are slated for delivery by the second half of 2026 – two every six months starting in the second half of 2024.
The Aurora-class vessel has a capacity to hold 9,100 car equivalent units, or CEUs. The ship’s multi-fuel engine can run on marine gas oil and liquified natural gas, or can be modified to use zero carbon fuels such as ammonia or methanol.
The vessel, the first in the PCTC segment to run on zero carbon ammonia, will be designed by Deltamarin, a subsidiary of China Merchants Group, and built at CMHI’s shipyard at Haimen in China’s eastern Jiangsu province.
Höegh Autoliners will be exhibiting at Breakbulk Europe 2023, taking place this year on the 6-8 June at Rotterdam Ahoy. Reserve your tickets here, then come meet the Höegh team in Hall 2, stand 2B24-C25.
