What do the interiors of freight roro ferries look like?

[rjdg14]

You know, the 12 passengers sort with a 20x20 metre accommodation area. I've never sailed on one of these, and struggle finding photos, so it would be interesting for somebody to give some info on the kind of internal layout and facilities located onboard. The closest I've ever got was by peering in from the car at P&O's former European Mariner while in Larne, and I saw a light in the ceiling. It was a small circular piece with a blue cover, if memory serves correctly.

How are these boats typically layed out? Are there ever any with interiors comparable to ferries geared at passengers, and what are some very basically furnished examples?

[Bob Scott]

In the 12-pax freight ro-ros I have sailed, on the accommodation for passengers (drivers) consisted of six two-berth cabins of the same standard as that provided for the ship

[simonwp]

I've been involved with ro-ro shipping for over 40 years in various capacities, and have sailed on many vessels in Northern Europe. The quality of accommodation for truck drivers varies considerably from company to company. If you travel on DFDS vessels, for example, you are pretty sure of good accommodation and food, even on chartered in vessels, as reputations are at stake.

Accommodation is usually in two berth cabins en-suite, with a few ships having a mix of two berth and singles. Food is usually what the crew gets, often solid but plentiful. Recreational facilities are usually limited, but, as most routes are either overnight, or under eight hours if daylight, and most truckers use the time to sleep, as they will be on the move as soon as the vessel docks, so it is important to them to make the most of the crossing. Most ships are now dry, but truckers accept that. They usually have some private mess area with a television and video's, and maybe even internet.

There are currently no routes in NW Europe that carry accompanied trailers over 30 hours, and then that is only the weekly DFDS sailing between Gothenburg and Immingham that goes via Brevik, the direct route is 24 hours.

[rjdg14]

What about that of ships such as the Stena Leader, Norbank, Norbay, European Seaway etc? These can all seat in the 1-300 area. I've seen occasional pictures, and most have some form of passenger facilities onboard.

Also, would P&O's slightly larger European Causeway/Highlander count as a passenger or freight vessel? I've travelled on these many times, and they have a bar at front, restaurant in middle, a small games arcade, a shop, a video lounge, a new "club class", and the rest is for truckers. Why can these only hold 400 or so people, vs the 1000 that most Irish Sea passenger vessels carry? Does the ship look like a freight or passenger ferry in the picture?

http://www.merseyshipping.co.uk/photofeatures/shipco/pando/causewayhighlander210212/Feb%2021%2012%20European%20Causeway%20at%20sea%204.JPG

[simonwp]

The vessels you mention are what are know as ro-pax vessels, rather than ro-ro vessels. These vessels are usually have all the facilities "full sized" passenger ferries, but lower capacity, and usually carry "normal" passengers as well as truckers. The configuration is usually decided by the operator based on the characteristic of the route. there is no hard and fast rule about when a vessel is classed as a ro-pax or a passenger ferry, indeed many vessels operate in both modes, sometimes seasonally, but even within the same 24 hour period. For example on the cross channel routes out of Dover vessels operate in full passenger mode during the day but in the early hours reduce their passenger capacity and operate in ro-pax mode.

If you want a rough rule of thumb, ro-ro vessels carry no more than 12 passengers, ro-pax vessels are mainly freight vessels with a limited passenger capacity, and passenger ferries have a much larger passenger capacity, but it's not an exact science, and there are no hard and fast rules.

[rjdg14]

The vessels you mention are what are know as ro-pax vessels, rather than ro-ro vessels. These vessels are usually have all the facilities "full sized" passenger ferries, but lower capacity, and usually carry "normal" passengers as well as truckers. The configuration is usually decided by the operator based on the characteristic of the route. there is no hard and fast rule about when a vessel is classed as a ro-pax or a passenger ferry, indeed many vessels operate in both modes, sometimes seasonally, but even within the same 24 hour period. For example on the cross channel routes out of Dover vessels operate in full passenger mode during the day but in the early hours reduce their passenger capacity and operate in ro-pax mode.

If you want a rough rule of thumb, ro-ro vessels carry no more than 12 passengers, ro-pax vessels are mainly freight vessels with a limited passenger capacity, and passenger ferries have a much larger passenger capacity, but it's not an exact science, and there are no hard and fast rules.

So the first four mentioned are all RoPax. Would this term also apply for the European Causeway & Highlander, or is it full sized, like the Stena Superfast boats and the Ulysses?

[simonwp]

You take your pick........there is not a hard and fast rule. They were designed with a specific set of routes in mind, so conform to the requirements needed. I would say they were full sized, but if you were marketing them for sale of charter, you'd probably call them dual purpose.

[Cornelia Klier]

If you do mean ships like "Finnpartner" and "Finnstar" (Hansa/Star-Class)I can tell you, that these ships have same interior like full passenger ships like DFDS, the cabins are similar at least on Star-Class Finnlines ships. There is ONE bar, ONE restaurant and ONE cafe - not more. But, it is very spacious and also not crowded. Ships have sauna, too.

What about older "Hansa-Class" - these ships have cabins, that are bigger than average ferry cabins. We went on a trip to St. Petersburg and cabin was 19 m

[rjdg14]

Although none of your photos showed the bar/restaurant area, what I did see reminded me in fixtures of the Causeway, plus the other RoPax P&O vessels. So I'm assuming most are similar to it, possibly just scaled down a little (take away the club class lounge and merge the shop into the reception).

Onto another area of the freight topic, my parents claim to have been aboard a freight ferry from Cairnryan to Larne in about 1998. They recall being inside a small lounge area for the two hour duration, and my mum was the only female passenger aboard (they were only offered the ride due to an early arrival), making me assume it was the 12 passenger sort, or not much bigger. Does anybody have an idea of which ship this could have been (P&O) at this point? Was it probably the European Mariner, or another ship?

[Tuomas Romu]

I should have a lot of photographs from Finnlines's Antares, which is a 12 pax ro-ro ship. I see if I can get some scanned later this week. The passenger facilities in that were quite fancy.

[IACSman]

SOLAS  clearly defines vessels:

A passenger ship is a ship which carries more than twelve passengers(SOLAS part A, reg 2(f).

A cargo ship is a ship which is not a passenger ship.(SOLAS part A, reg 2(g).

So, a cargo ship can carry up to and including 12 pax. When # 13 pax boards, the same cargo ship has to be recertified as a pax ship, and a number of additional rules and regulations as appliacable to pax ships kicks in. +the additional costs etc etc....

[chrisg46]

If you go to this site's video page, and search with the words "north sea ro-ro", you'll find a whole 6-part video series filmed just 2 weeks ago aboard DFDS Sealandia Seaways and Suecia Seaways on the Felixstowe - Rotterdam route.

The films take you everywhere aboard, on the bridge, the cargo decks and into the accomodation, and down below from rudder posts to bow thruster compartment!