Emerald Ace - One Of Our Regular RO-ROs!

Coming up 10 years ago, Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd – or MOL for short – announced in Tokyo the completion of the hybrid car carrier Emerald Ace – designed to generate zero emissions while berthed – at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd’s Kobe shipyard.

These days we see quite a bit of her in Fremantle. Majestic things these RO-ROs!

Here she is as captured by our freelance Shipping News photographer in Gage Roads, off Fremantle, last Sunday afternoon, 13 March 2022, after her voyage from Singapore.

She’s still in the Port today. Keep an eye out for her. As if you could miss seeing her!

Credit Marine Traffic

The Emerald Ace was built as world’s first newly built hybrid car carrier, and is equipped with a hybrid electric power supply system that combines a 160kW solar generation system – jointly developed by MHI, Energy Company of Panasonic Group, and MOL – with lithium-ion batteries that can store some 2.2MWh of electricity.

Conventional power generation systems use diesel-powered generators to supply onboard electricity while berthed. On the Emerald Ace, electricity is generated by the solar power generation system while the vessel is under way and stored in the lithium-ion batteries. The diesel-powered generator is completely shut down when the ship is in berth, and the batteries provide all the electricity it needs, resulting in zero emissions at the pier.

10 years ago the vessel’s hybrid system represented a significant step forward in realizing ISHIN-I, the concept for the next-generation car carrier that MOL announced in September 2009.

MOL said it continues to take a proactive stance in technological development with the aim of reducing the environmental burden of its vessels and operations.

Indeed, the ‘greening’ of the ship industry is continuing apace.

Perhaps that’s why we see the ‘Emerald’ in her name?

Here’s a few more specs on Emerald Ace –
Capacity: 6,400 vehicles (standard passenger cars)
LOA: 199.99m
Beam: 32.26m
Depth: 34.52m
Draft: 9.725m