Roll-on/roll-off

Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed specifically to transport wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers and railroad cars, which are moved directly onto and off the ship by their own wheels or on a platform vehicle such as a self-propelled modular transporter. This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off (LoLo) vessels, which rely on cranes to load and unload cargo.

RORO vessels typically have a multistorey carpark-like cargo hold layout and use either built-in or dock-based linkspans (ramps) or ferry slips that allow the cargo to be efficiently loaded on and off the vessel when in port. The cargo doors and/or ramps may be located in the stern, bow or portsides, or any combination thereof. While smaller ferries that operate short distances across rivers and other waterbodies often also have built-in ramps, the term RORO is generally reserved for large seagoing vessels owned/chartered by the automotive industry for exportshipping.