United European Car Carriers (UECC) is a Norwegian

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

shipping line, created in 1990 and based in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The company primarily transports cargo on short sea routes within

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

History

The company had its roots in Ugland-Aall Car Carriers (UACC), established in the 1970s. Johan Benad Ugland was a shareholder in the group. In 1990, its commercial operations and fleet of 19 vessels were sold (and rebranded as United European Car Carriers) to focus together with Leif Höegh & Co, on Hoegh-Ugland Autoliners ("HUAL") as a deep sea

Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

carrier.
From 1990, UECC is jointly owned by

Nippon Yusen Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi ''keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a flee ...

Kaisha and

Wallenius Lines Wallenius Lines is a privately owned Swedish shipping company. The company was founded in 1934 by Olof Wallenius. Wallenius Lines is an investor and active owner within the global shipping industry, specifically the international car and roll-on ...

, in a 50-50 share agreement. The main purpose of the acquisition was the plan to offer short sea service for Japanese automobile manufacturers that had manufacturing plants in Europe, along with improving the intra-

feeder network, by providing extensive connections to a number of destinations that could not be served by oceanic vessels due to physical or commercial limitations. UECC was the first roll-on/roll-off line to build and deploy a

liquified natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

-powered ship. In 2016, the company took delivery of two dual fuel LNG pure car and truck carriers, ''Auto Eco'' and ''Auto Energy'', of the 1A Super Finnish/Swedish ice class. At that time, the vessels were the largest dual fuel vessels in the world, with a capacity of 4,000 cars each.

Operations

UECC has 18 vessels that call at over 25 ports every week. Its trade routes include

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to the Scandinavian and Baltic countries (including

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

), Mediterranean to Northern Europe (including

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to UK and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The main business is the domestic maritime transport and distribution of cargo such as automobiles, trucks, trailers,

Mafi roll trailer A roll trailer is a trailer platform that requires towing by a powered vehicle. It is commonly used for the transport of heavy static goods and materials in the maritime shipping industry. Roll trailers are similar to shipping flat racks contai ...

s, heavy construction machineries and further types of rolling freight. The company is also active in terminal operations, controlling some of the on-shore activities, vehicles handling and storage facilities of ports such as

Pasajes Pasaia ( es, Pasajes) is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community of northern Spain. It is a fishing community, commercial port and the birthplace of the famous admiral Blas de Lezo. Pasaia l ...

and

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, and

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeeb ...

. Aside from its headquarters in Oslo, UECC also has four other branch offices in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Setubal,

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

and

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

References

Ships gallery

File:Car carrier Auto Energy.jpg, Auto Energy File:Car carrier Baltic Breeze in2016 (1).jpg, Baltic Breeze File:Car carrier Baltic Breeze.jpg, Baltic Breeze stern File:Arabian Breeze in Cuxhaven 2013 01.jpg, Arabian Breeze File:MV Autorunner R01.jpg, Autorunner File:Pasaiako portua 2.jpg, UECC ship in Spain File:Auto Bank 2011-09-17 (2).jpg, Auto Bank stern File:Ship Autoracer (1).jpg, Autoracer File:Autoprestige 2016 leaving Zeebrugge.jpg, Autoprestige at Zeebrugge File:Autoline car carrier manoeuvering.jpg, Autoline File:Car carrier Auto Bank (1).jpg, Auto Bank File:Arabian Breeze 2011-07-12.jpg, Auto Breeze File:Autoprestige (3).jpg, Autoprestige File:Car carrier Asian Breeze.jpg, Asian Breeze File:Car carrier Arabian Breeze.jpg, Arabian Breeze File:Southampton harbour tug and car transport - geograph.org.uk - 292274.jpg, UECC vessel at Southampton File:Le Havre (France) UECC ship going in port.jpg, UECC vessel at Le Havre File:MV Auto Baltic of Helsinki UECC IMG 4215 IMO 9121998.JPG, Auto Baltic File:Autopride (Ship) 2011 by-RaBoe 02.jpg, Autopride File:UECC Autopride Cargo Ship.jpg, UECC Autopride File:Ship Autoprogress (2).jpg, Autoprogress {{Authority control Transport companies established in 1990 Shipping companies of Norway Car carrier shipping companies Ro-ro shipping companies

History

Operations

See also

References

Ships gallery