Car Ships

Lots to know about car ships — one other tidbit about car ships on the Columbia:

Such ships generally deliver about a third of their cargo in Portland or Vancouver, WA and then continue on to other ports to deliver the rest. Car carriers here sometimes come directly from Japan or Korea, or arrive from Vancouver, BC on a run down the coast. Also, if a car carrier is going to unload its last car and leave empty, sometimes the US  military takes the opportunity to load military equipment for transport to the next port the ship is traveling to. Car ships have hydraulic moveable decks inside that can adjust to the height of their cargo, so in theory they can handle large trucks and small cars or military vehicles, etc. with some adjustments. Anything on wheels is the preferred cargo of these RO/RO ships — Roll On/ Roll Off — and they are increasing in number on the Columbia as the U.S. imports more and more cars.

It’s interesting how our ship traffic reflects the world marketplace…

Joanne