With Australia’s population still growing, the roll on/roll off shipping sector is expanding to deliver more cars. For the ro-ro trade, that points to growth, even as operators work to transition their fleets to cleaner fuels
WITH the Australian population increasing after an immigration pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to expand the country’s ro-ro capacity — both ships and berths — is clear.
All industries also need to face up to greenhouse gas reduction challenges reinforced in the latest National Climate Risk Assessment report issued in September.
In transport, Australia has been slower than other markets in its uptake of electric vehicles, which comprised just 9.5% of new light vehicles sold in Australia in 2024, according to the Electric Vehicle Council’s latest State of EVs report. In the same year, the International Energy Agency reported that EV sales comprised 22% of global new car sales. But the pace of local EV sales is quickening.
“EVs now account for nearly one in 10 new cars sold in Australia—that’s a 150% increase in market share compared with 2022,” Dr Jake Whitehead Electric Vehicle Council chief scientist said. “It’s clear that a growing number of Australians are seeking cleaner, more efficient cars.”
A new shipping agency representing Chinese ro-ro line COSCO Car Carriers (CCC) and Toyota’s shipping division Toyofuji reflects the growing appetite for electric vehicles, especially Asian-branded cars. The Coastalbridge Agencies-managed CCC service launched mid-year with the arrival in Brisbane of the 7,000-car capacity Huang He Kuo from Shanghai.
Currently running a fortnightly service for CCC, Coastalbridge director James Kurz predicts the new service will double to one PCTC arrival in Australia a week, bringing mainly Great Wall Motor (GWM) cars. Other cars imported by the service include units made by the COSCO-owned SAIC. The Coastalbridge service will expand to other vehicle types including high and heavy equipment and also extend to service New Zealand from Australian ports.
“There’s a trend to fewer ship movements, but larger volumes on each,” Mr Kurz tells DCN.
This means Australian ro-ro ports need to adapt to disgorging greater numbers of cars with each PCTC arrival. Fortunately for the continued mobility of Australians, the ro-ro terminal sector is responding to Australians’ appetite for new cars by expanding in capacity where they can—or speeding throughput where they cannot.
Light rail vehicle arriving at Port Kembla ro-ro terminal. Image: NSW Ports
A prime example is NSW Ports’ development plan for Port Kembla, the principal ro-ro terminal in Australia’s largest state which receives 99% of vehicles arriving into New South Wales. Stevedore Australian Amalgamated Terminals (AAT), a subsidiary of Qube Logistics, operates the Port Kembla ro-ro terminal on an open-access basis.
Port Kembla has four (soon to be five) ro-ro berths which in 2024-25 unloaded 406,339 motor vehicles from 470 ro-ro vessel visits. During the year Port Kembla’s ro-ro berths also handled project components for Snowy Hydro 2.0 and the new R Set passenger trains for the state’s new regional rail fleet. The top three motor vehicle import sources in 2024-25 were Japan (36%), Thailand (16%) and China (17%), which all have direct ro-ro services to Port Kembla.
In August 2025, the private-sector-owned NSW Ports announced an expansion at Port Kembla through the Berth 104 Extension Project, with construction starting in October this year. This $45 million project will enable ro-ro vessels to berth and unload/load cargo at Berth B104, adding a fifth ro-ro capable berth at Port Kembla.
The project includes a 60-metre-long by 20-metre-wide extension to the northern wharf, allowing a vessel ramp to land on the B104 wharf, with a new northern access bridge and truck turnaround area for longer ro-ro ships.
There also will be a new southern wharf connection linking the B104 wharf to the existing 44 hectares of hardstand area in the AAT terminal for cargo laydown. NSW Ports said the project will be funded by a “modest wharfage increase”.
In recent years, we’ve seen how susceptible ro-ro supply chains can be to disruption so it’s critical our ports have the flexibility to accommodate these disruptions, whilst also enhancing their day-to-day capability.Marika Calfas, NSW Ports CEO
Announcing the project, NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas said Port Kembla has “a well-established, embedded ro-ro supply chain from the unloading of cargo and biosecurity procedures at the port through to pre-vehicle inspections on or near the port and distribution across NSW”.
“Ro-ro imports into NSW are forecast to grow into the future, as population grows, and this project will add to Port Kembla’s ro-ro capabilities, enhancing resilience, capacity and flexibility to meet the state’s trade needs,” Ms Calfas said.
In recent years, we’ve seen how susceptible ro-ro supply chains can be to disruption so it’s critical our ports have the flexibility to accommodate these disruptions, whilst also enhancing their day-to-day capability.”
Also helping NSW import more cars faster is an upgrade at the Port of Newcastle as an alternative ro-ro port. After landing high and heavy vehicles—rail locomotives, rolling stock and construction equipment—for many years, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry awarded Port of Newcastle First Port of Entry status for passenger cars in October 2024.
Since the start of 2025, the port has landed 5,500 vehicles, along with parts and equipment for agricultural and mining machinery. The port cited biosecurity considerations as part of its expansion case: having a nearby alternative terminal helps the supply chain remain resilient in the event of a biosecurity incident.
To accommodate growth, work is under way in the Port of Newcastle precinct to expand the hardstand at Dyke Point from 1,100 units to 2,100 by the end of the year, with further expansion planned beyond that.
Kate McArthur, Port of Newcastle executive manager of growth and development, said the port has capacity to accommodate industry needs.
“With over 300 hectares of the Port’s lease land vacant, we are the only port on the east coast of Australia that can accommodate the needs of the industry at the scale required,” Ms McArthur said.
Meanwhile, the future of ro-ro capacity in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, is secure after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approved the sale of Melbourne International Roll On/Roll Off Automotive Terminal (MIRRAT) in April.
The ACCC approved Wilhelmsen Wallenius’s $332.5 million sale of MIRRAT to AAT after it received court-enforceable undertakings from AAT’s parent Qube to maintain competition. The terminal is now known as AAT Webb Dock West.
At the opposite end of Australia, rail operator Aurizon is exploring a partnership with Japanese ro-ro line NYK to upgrade the Port of Darwin for a growing landbridging service that the rail operator has already put in place for containers arriving on ANL vessels. A successful Aurizon-NYK tie-up would see vehicles landed at Darwin and railed south.
Out west, Fremantle Ports reported a year-on-year increase in imported vehicles in WA of 12.5% in its latest online annual report (2023-24), with the port processing 128,239 new cars over the year. The port said it was “exploring landside expansion within the existing footprint to facilitate growing trade”.
Ro-ro shipping lines like Wilhelmsen Wallenius that have sold terminals have plenty of scope to reinvest the proceeds, with a series of major new pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) designs announced and vessels launched in the past year.
In one of the most advanced ro-ro vessel concepts, Wallenius Marine and KNUD E. HANSEN announced a new design in September at the Donsö Shipping Meet in Sweden. With the engine room relocated to the bow, the Sleipner ro-ro concept features loading and unloading from a stern ramp across the full width of the ship.
Propulsion is provided by a dual-fuel electric powertrain capable of running on LNG, Liquified Biogas, Biodiesel or Marine Gas Oil, a low emissions alternative to fuel oil. Coupled with an Azipods 360-degree steering system, the Sleipner has excellent manoeuvrability in crowded ports. But the Sleipner innovation doesn’t end there. The design allows for optional wing sails, shore power and alternative fuel sources such as batteries and fuel cells to further reduce energy consumption and emissions.
“The ro-ro segment of short-sea shipping plays a key role in the transition to more sustainable transport, not least through the transfer of goods from land to sea transport,” Urban Lishajko, head of ship design at Wallenius Marine said. “At the same time, the industry is facing a generational change where new tonnage is needed to meet both capacity needs and demands for increased energy efficiency and reduced emissions.”
Other new PCTCs launched in the past year have less “out there” designs but accommodate potentially zero-carbon fuels such as ammonia, which emits no greenhouse gases if it’s produced from renewable energy. And they’re sailing now – not just concepts.
The industry is facing a generational change where new tonnage is needed to meet both capacity needs and demands for increased energy efficiency and reduced emissionsUrban Lishajko, head of ship design,Wallenius Marine
Launching Grande Svezia in late September, the Grimaldi Group emphasised the ship was the line’s fourth “ammonia-ready” PCTC and that it delivers 50% lower fuel consumption compared with earlier generation vessels.
Other green technologies aboard Grande Svezia include 2,500 square metres of solar panels, silicone-based hull coatings to cut drag, smart systems for ventilation and climate control and exhaust gas treatment to cut sulphur oxide and particulate emissions. The 9,000 CEU capacity car carrier has a 5 MWh lithium battery system and “cold ironing” capability, allowing it to draw electricity directly from shore where facilities are available— or run on its own zero-emissions power where shore power is not available.
Grande Svezia follows sister ship Grande Shanghai as the second in a series of 10 next-generation PCTCs under construction at China Merchants Heavy Industries Jiangsu.
Grimaldi PCTC, Grande Svezia. Image: Grimaldi Group
Japanese line NYK has favoured methanol in its new PCTC, Green Future, launched in May. This vessel is the first in the NYK Group to be equipped with a dual-fuel engine that uses methanol and fuel oil. Methanol has a lower environmental impact than fuel oil, and by using bio-methanol and e-methanol produced using hydrogen derived from renewable energy sources and recovered carbon dioxide, the vessel achieves significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Another global ro-ro player, Norway-based Hoegh Autoliners, launched a sixth Aurora-class vessel at Gothenburg in September as part of its decarbonisation partnership with Swedish car maker Volvo.
Like all first eight of 12 Aurora-class vessels ordered by Hoegh, the 9100 car-capacity Hoegh Moonlight is dual-fuel, powered by LNG now but capable of rapid conversion to run on clean ammonia. Hoegh said Hoegh Moonlight delivers 58% lower emissions per transported cargo compared to the industry average. The final four of the 12 Aurora-class vessels will be dual-fuel, running on ammonia from day one.
Other car makers prefer to ship their vehicles in their own vessels. In April, Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD took delivery of the BYD Shenzen from shipbuilder China Merchants, claiming for the vessel the mantle of world’s largest-capacity car carrier. The PCTC is not ammonia-ready but can run on LNG with a boil-off recondenser and a sophisticated 1 MW battery power system, with shore power capability.
Bigger challenges remain at Australian ro-ro terminals to accommodate the cleaner fuels that will power the next-generation PCTCs launched in the past year as dual-fuel vessels, but with conversions looming. With limited or non-existent capacity to bunker LNG, ammonia or methanol, it may be some time before next-generation car carriers are calling Australian ports with their cargoes.
As the start of the bunker supply chain, refiners such as Viva Energy, which supplies marine gas oil and fuel oil to ro-ro ports in Melbourne and Brisbane by barge, need capacity to provide the alternative fuels that the latest ships demand.
A Viva Energy spokesperson said customers had expressed interest in biofuel blended marine fuel (B20) for use on existing ships, while meeting International Maritime Organisation greenhouse emission rules.
Viva launched a trial of B20 with the Royal Caribbean’s Celebrity Edge in April to evaluate the fuel’s performance and carbon reduction benefits. For vehicle customers, the company opened a hydrogen refuelling station in Geelong in the past year with a 2.5MW electrolyser producing renewable hydrogen.
But Viva Energy “does not currently have capacity to produce or supply ammonia or methanol for our shipping customers”, the spokesperson said. Yet the latest dual-fuel PCTCs launched in Europe are already adapted to ammonia, methanol or LNG as alternative fuels.
Celebrity Edge receiving marine biofuel in Sydney Harbour. Image: Viva Energy
Ports are also exploring clean fuel strategies but with little progress, except in remote Western Australia. Catering to vast resource exports, Pilbara Ports, which operates ports at Dampier, Ashburton and Port Hedland, is building Australia’s first clean fuel bunkering hub, expected to be operational in 2030.
Other ports are adopting a wait-and-see approach. The Port of Newcastle has “no current plans to accommodate a specific new fuel” it said in a statement to DCN but “Port of Newcastle Clean Energy Precinct has been designed with the capacity to respond to future market demands”.
In March 2023, the Port of Melbourne commissioned a feasibility study on low-carbon methanol bunkering that found “while the port has the necessary infrastructure to receive and store methanol, there are present-day barriers and emerging future scenarios across the wider [low-carbon methanol] supply chain that need to develop to support long-term commercial viability of LCM bunkering in Melbourne”.
According to Port of Melbourne’s 2025 Port Development Strategy:“PoM continues to monitor and explore other potential low carbon fuels, such as biodiesel, ammonia and hydrogen for use at the port. Further work is required to better understand these alternative opportunities and their availability (if ever) for use at the port.”
The sector’s peak body, Ports Australia, said the federal government needs to lead this work. “For Australian ports to accommodate future fuels bunkering, we need clarity on what the demand for those fuels will be,” Ports Australia CEO Mike Gallacher said.
“At this stage we’re a long way off being ready to bunker for ammonia, but renewable diesel is here and drop-in ready.
“In the short term, the federal government should step forward to develop and communicate the end vision on Australia’s whole of supply chain green fuel strategy and the role ports will play as we transition to greener fuels across our economy so that ports can plan accordingly.”
With ammonia-ready and dual-fuel LNG PCTCs already sailing the world’s oceans, we can only hope this work is completed sooner rather than later. Otherwise, the latest PCTCs will be assigned to ports adapted for clean fuels and, increasingly, car carriers calling Australia will be the ageing and high-polluting dregs of the global ro-ro fleet.
The Australian government has responded to the first National Climate Risk Assessment with a commitment to reduce 2005 greenhouse emission levels by 62 to 70% by 2035. With an ambitious goal like that, it’s clear the maritime sector—particularly ro-ro— needs to make its contribution by moving faster to accommodate the low carbon-fuelled ships already at sea.
This article appeared in the October | November 2025 edition of DCN Magazine