The RoRo Seatrade series is a three-unit series of RoRo ships that was built in 1972/1973 at the Dutch shipyards A. Vuyk & Zonen and Van der Giessen-De Noord for the Stena Line .
The ships were built as pure RoRo cargo ships with a deckhouse far forward and two continuous rolling decks. The holds of the ships are accessible through bow and stern ramps, which are closed by a bow hatch and a stern hatch.
The ships are propelled by two six-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engines of the Stork-Werkspoor 6TM410 type with an output of 5371 kW. The motors act on two controllable pitch propellers and enable a speed of around 18 knots . There are also four auxiliary diesels (1 × 400 kW, 2 × 256 kW, 1 × 180 kW) available. The berthing and casting off maneuvers are supported by a bow thruster .
history
The construction of the hull of the second ship in the series was subcontracted to the Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard in Krimpen, which launched the ship on February 10, 1973 as Stena Seatrader . After completion by Vuyk & Zonen on August 18, 1973, the new building was brought directly to the Schichau Unterweser shipyard in Bremerhaven, where the main deck was raised by half a meter to accommodate the higher rail cars of the Canadian National Railway . The ship then began a three-year charter in Canada as a Seatrader , where it was used between North Sydney and Port Aux Basques.
In 1975/1976, all three ships at HDW in Kiel were lengthened by 32 meters. From August to December 1987 the Stena Searider was converted into a RoRo and rail ferry at Cityvarvet in Gothenburg. The overall length was reduced by 1.32 meters, while the addition of stability-improving fuselage extensions increased the width to 19.1 m. The Kirk Shipper was also rebuilt from April 20 to June 16, 1989. The Lloyd shipyard in Bremerhaven widened the ship to 18.6 meters before it was put into service again as the Normandy Shipper .
The ships
RoRo Seatrade series
Building name
Delivery / year of construction
Shipyard / construction number
IMO number
Renaming and whereabouts
Stena Sailer
1973
Vuyk / 862
7304340
1975 → Farha , 1981 → Stena Seatrader , 1989 → Kirk Trader , 1993 → Island Trader , 1994 → Kirk Trader , 1994 → Island Trader , 1995 → Kirk Marina , 1997 → Seabord Mariner , 2002 → Island Trader , 2004 → Merdif 4 , 2007 → Jabal Ali 5 , scrapped from January 25, 2011 at Rai Metal Works in Alang.