JAPANESE carrier K-Line’s new ro-ro ship, Niagara Highway V1 (IMO 9832638), is currently making its maiden voyage around Australia.
This follows its recent delivery from Imabari Shipbuilding Co in Japan.
At the time of publication, the vessel has already docked at Townsville where it received a warm welcome before leaving for Brisbane where it is expected to arrive later this week.
Port of Townsville acting general manager business development, David Sibley said the arrival of the new vessel demonstrated the global demand on port infrastructure.
“Globally ships are being built bigger and better,” Mr Sibley said.
“This resonates with the prediction of trade volume to treble over the next 30 years.”
Mr Sibley said the Channel Upgrade Project ensured Townsville remained Northern Australia’s transport link to the world.
From Brisbane, Niagara Highway is sailing south to Port Kembla, Melbourne and Adelaide before returning to Japan.
On board is a cargo of cars and heavy machinery.
According to K Line, Niagara Highway is among the company’s new generation large size pure car carrier vessel to operate on the Japan – Australia trade.
Flagged in Panama, the vessel has a beam of 37.2metres and an overall length of 200 metres.
