Automatic translation
Vessels of the "RO-RO" type are named so in accordance with the peculiarities of loading and unloading. Basically, such vessels use a horizontal method of loading, transporting cars, wagons, trains and other wheeled vehicles. Loading and unloading takes place using built-in ramps in the stern and bow of the vessel. Most often, equipment is loaded and unloaded on its own.
Such vessels have a number of advantages: speed of loading and unloading, the ability to combine the transportation of wheeled cargo and containers on one vessel and attractiveness for tourism, as it allows people to quickly cross water obstacles in their car.
Design variations
The most common design variations of such ships: ROPAX (combination of a cargo ship and a passenger ship), ConRO (a combination of wheeled cargo and containers), RO-LO (a feature in the availability of some pallets only with a crane), ROLKER (ships with exclusively horizontal loading and unloading capabilities ) and LMSR (ships used exclusively for the transport of military equipment).
The specifics of work at sea on RO-RO vessels very much depends on its type, seafarer's position, charter and other variables. Often, RO-RO vessels negotiate short lines and are assigned to 2-4 ports. Thus, long crossings are extremely rare and all work on the ship is reduced to loading and unloading. Since the key advantage of these lines is the speed of these procedures, you must always keep within the schedule, so the rhythm of work is extremely fast. Short stops in ports, up to a maximum of 6 hours, well, and work shifts of 10-14 hours (in fairness, not on all ships of this type). Nevertheless, many seafarers who have already worked on such ships note that the main thing is to get used to the rhythm of work and then everything becomes easier. However, taking into account all the specifics, mainly young seafarers are involved in such work at sea.
Among the crewing offers for work on RO-RO vessels, you can find vacancies for almost any position. Nevertheless, in terms of the number of proposals, the RO-RO fleet is significantly inferior to the options for working on bulk carriers, container ships and dry cargo ships. Using the site-aggregator of all offers for hiring on vessels of the RO-RO type, we can estimate the distribution of payments and the terms of contracts. The shortest contract is 1 month for an ETO position with a salary of 3400 USD. The longest - 7 months in the position of "Turner", with a salary of 1340 USD. Among the crewing companies that offer work on this kind of vessels: Akmar Transport Ltd, Tenet Marine Company Ltd, New Star Marine, Tsd Shipmanagement LLC and others.
Offer options
There are a lot of options for proposals and any Ukrainian seafarer will be able to find a suitable position for himself. Moreover, it is worth noting that on the RO-RO passenger ships (and those are considered to be those ships where the carriage of at least 12 passengers in addition to the main cargo is provided), as well as on cruise liners, there are vacancies not only for exclusively maritime professions. For example, it is not uncommon to find offers to hire "flight attendants" who play the role of support staff.
Thus, work on RO-RO ships is not devoid of its own specifics, but it cannot be said that it is fundamentally different from work at sea on ships of a different type. The absence of long crossings and frequent presence in ports allows you to stay in good vitality, and the rotational work method makes it possible to quickly get used to the rhythm of life on board. In addition, since work on RO-RO vessels is often similar to work on container ships, many seafarers can switch from one type of fleet to another without loss.
