The Orca Ace, a ‘next-generation’ car carrier, called on Vancouver earlier this month after its maiden voyage across the Pacific. Around 2,300 Subaru vehicles were unloaded before the ship departed for San Diego.
The maiden voyage of the Orca Ace, a Japanese-built car carrier, swung by Vancouver on Wednesday as the first stop in a trip down the West Coast.
Capt. Yury Golovatyuk and his 22-member crew stopped at the Port of Vancouver earlier this month to unload 2,300 Subaru vehicles. The cars were slated to be processed at the port and shipped to buyers across the northern United States. International Longshore and Warehouse Union crews discharged the vehicles on board.
Lauded as a “next-generation car carrier,” the ship is 656 feet long with a deadweight capacity of 15,495 metric tons, according to a media release from the port. The hull’s shape, along with an upgraded two-stroke engine, reportedly help reduce the Orca Ace’s carbon emissions.
Mitsui announced the design for its next-gen car carriers, called FLEXIE, in April 2016. The ship’s bows have a rounded shape engineered to minimize wind resistance. It’s expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 2 percent compared to traditional car carriers, the company stated upon its release.
The Orca Ace then headed south, stopping at several West Coast ports before docking at her final destination in San Diego. As of press time, the vessel was en route to Richmond, Calif.