DFDS Names Its Largest RoRo Ship

Danish shipping and logistics company DFDS named last week its newest and largest ferry to date.

The naming ceremony for the roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) newbuilding, Ephesus Seaways, was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 7.

Delivered to the company by Jinling Shipyard in China in January 2019, Ephesus Seaways, previously known as Gothia Seaways, will be the largest freight ferry ever to service DFDS’ clients on routes between Turkey and the EU.

U.N Ro-Ro Pendik Limanı’nda gerçekleşen isim verme töreninin ardından Efes antik kentinden alınan ilhamla “Ephesus Seaways” adı verilen 237 metre uzunluğundaki ihtişamlı gemi ilk kez Türk karasularından sefere çıktı.

Haberin devamı için: https://t.co/DufxZJ280c pic.twitter.com/XFOHWtbj0o

— U.N. Ro-Ro (@unroro_tr) March 11, 2019

“We are extremely proud to present this new ferry… With space for 6,700 lane metres of cargo, our customers, the Turkish and European logistics companies, can look forward to greater capacity,” EVP Peder Gellert, Head of DFDS Ferry Division, commented.

The ship’s first departure was on March 9 from Istanbul. After visiting Trieste fully loaded with 450 trailers, Ephesus Seaways is scheduled to arrive in Bari, Italy, in the evening hours of March 14.

“This ferry is the first of an order of six from the Chinese Jinling Shipyard and will be deployed in DFDS’ route network. It was reflagged under the Turkish flag, and re-named to Ephesus Seaways in accordance with our principle of naming our Mediterranean ships after UNESCO heritage sites in Turkey,” Selçuk Boztepe, Senior Vice President of DFDS in the Mediterranean, said.

The second of the new mega freight ferries will also join our Turkish fleet when it arrives in late spring.

The new freight ferries are each equipped with a ramp system with three independent stern ramps and internal ramps, making it possible to load and unload trailers quickly and efficiently.

In 2018, DFDS acquired U.N. Ro-Ro, Turkey’s largest operator of freight routes, to better use opportunities from the fast-growing transport market between Turkey and the EU. In addition, the company decided to expand both port terminal and route capacities in order to accommodate the volume increase of around 30 percent in the Mediterranean. DFDS is also increasing vessel capacity by allocating further ships to this market.