Fleet Build-Up For Chinese Car Exports

Chartered by fast-growing manufacturer BYD, the 7,000CEU-capacity BYD Explorer No.1 was constructed by Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore and is under the management of London-headquartered Zodiac Maritime.

Classed by DNV and powered by LNG dual-fuel machinery, the vessel was handed over on January 8 and subsequently loaded a mixed cargo of vehicles, first at Yantai and then at Shenzhen’s Xiaomo terminal complex, destined for the European market via ports in the Netherlands and Germany.

Originating as a battery company, BYD is a specialist manufacturer of hybrid and plug-in electric cars, battery-electric buses, coaches, vans and trucks, as well as other products. The design of the BYD Explorer No.1 has been tailored to the particular requirements for electric vehicle transportation and handling, and access to the 13-deck vessel’s ro-ro garaging is by way of a quarter ramp and starboard side ramp.

The new ship is registered in Liberia and has been built to within the 200m length parameter set by the main Japanese vehicle loading ports, so as to ensure the vessel’s long-term trading versatility, with the beam carried out to 38m.

The main engine is a gas-injected model of MAN’s S60ME-C two-stroke series, in six-cylinder configuration, which is understood to have been specified at an output of 11,280kW, equivalent to the design’s L2 rating. The plant incorporates SCR and EGR technologies.

The three main auxiliaries are also from the MAN LNG dual-fuel portfolio, as eight-cylinder models of the L28/32DF medium-speed engine. LNG storage in two Type C tanks affords a cruising range of 15,800 nautical miles.

BYD Explorer No.1 opens an extensive programme of at least 10 PCTC newbuilds of the 7,000CEU class at Yantai CIMC Raffles. The vessel is owned by Japanese interests, but managed by the Ofer-controlled shipowning and shipmanagement group Zodiac Maritime, which is involved in a raft of subsequent contracts at the yard entailing deliveries into 2026.

Hong Kong-based Wallem Group has been retained by BYD to provide commercial management services for the BYD Explorer No.1, geared to adding efficiency not only to vessel performance but also to the charterer’s port, bunkering and cargo operations.

BYD has indicated that the new vessel is the first of seven ordered from various Chinese yards which will enter its deployed fleet over the next two years.

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BYD Explorer No.1