A Transportation Method That Connects All the Ports in The World: Ro-Ro Trips

76% Of All Trips Made to European Ports

Which ports are currently used for Ro-Ro Transportation services, what are their destinations and who conduct these operations?

Compared to other modes of transportation, Ro-Ro transportation is one of the rather cheaper and safer alternative transportation modes. When we look at the international regular route Ro-Ro transportation statistics of our country from the end of November 2018, we can see that 551 thousand vehicles (not including automobiles) have been transported used Ro-Ro ships. Most of these trips are between Turkish ports and European ports, which comprise of 76% of the total number of incoming-outgoing vehicles. Just 14% of the vehicles were transported between Turkish ports and Mediterranean ports. And 10% were transported between Turkish ports and Black Sea ports. Most of our country's international Ro-Ro transportation operations take place on 28 routes. Here are the leading Ro-Ro Transportation companies and their routes;  

U.N.Ro-Ro: Pendik-Trieste, Ambarlı-Trieste, Pendik-Toulon and Mersin-Trieste

Ulusoy Denizcilik: Çeşme-Trieste

Alternative Taşımacılık: Yalova-Lavrio-Trieste, Yalova-Sete and Çeşme-Sete

Akdeniz RoRo Deniz Taşımacılığı: Samsun-Novorossiysk and Samsun-Gelincik

Akgünler İşletmeleri: Taşucu-Girne

Hatay Ro-Ro: İskenderun-Duba

Medstar Shipping Transport: Taşucu-Tripoli and Taşucu-Latakya

Filo Denizcilik: Taşucu-Girne and Mersin-Famagusta

Cenk Denizcilik ve Liman Hizmetleri: Zonguldak-Chornomorsk

Ukr Ferry: Haydarpaşa-Chornomorsk

Largest 10 Companies That Conduct Ro-Ro Transportation at Turkish Ports

How many companies conduct Ro-Ro transportation? What are the origins of these companies?

We can say that most of the Ro-Ro Transportation operations in our country are conducted by 10 companies.  7 of these companies are Turkish while the remaining are Danish, Greek and Ukrainian.

Which legal requirements are Ro-Ro Transportation companies obliged to fulfil? What are the documents they need to obtain and what are the requirements companies must meet to receive these documents? What are the fees for the authorization documents and other certifications?

In order to operate a ship, companies need to obtain a document that proves that they have met the requirements of International Safety Management System.  Technical requirements have been depicted by the provisions of International Convention for the Safety of the Life at Sea. The document fees are determined by the fee policies of our authorized classification institutions.

In addition to the documents stated above, companies need to obtain the Regular Route Permit for national Ro-Ro transportation. This document is issued by the General Directorate of Maritime Trade of our Ministry and it determines the ports they can operate. For national Ro-Ro transportation, route permit is valid for 3 years for classified ships and 2 years of non-classified ships. Regular Route Permit fees may vary between 2.000 TL and 6.000 TL according to the duration of the permit.

They Can Conduct Transportation to All the Ports in The World

Which features and characteristics (like weight and age) should a Ro-Ro Transportation ship have and what are the documents required for these ships?

Even though there is no age limit for International Ro-Ro transportation ships, they are inspected according to the requirements of International Convention for the Safety of the Life at Sea and other international agreements, of which we are a party. If they are found to comply with these agreements, they are certified. They can conduct transportation to all the ports in the world, provided that their certifications comply with international rules. The documents in question are issued by our authorized classification institutions that certify ships across the world. The national Ro-Ro transportation ships are inspected according to the obligations of our national legislation and they are issued a Seaworthiness Document.

Ro-Ro Ships Must Comply with SOLAS Rules

How long are these company and ship Ro-Ro Transportation certifications valid and what are the requirements to renew or replace these documents?

In order to operate a ship, companies need to obtain a document that proves that they have met the requirements of International Safety Management System. This document is valid for 5 years and each year, there are regular inspections. At the end of the 5th year, there is a renewal inspection and if the company is found appropriate, the document is renewed. Inspection guidelines have been set out by the International Convention for the Safety of the Life at Sea and the inspection and documentation procedures are conducted by our authorized classification institutions.

Ships are certified for 5 years according to the requirements of International Convention for the Safety of the Life at Sea and other international agreements and there are annual inspections. The renewal inspections conducted at the end of the 5th year as well as the regular inspections and certification services are conducted by our authorized classification institutions.

For national Ro-Ro transportation, route permit is valid for 3 years for classified ships and 2 years of non-classified ships. The company's insurance policy, operating permits of the piers and ports and a Metropolitan Municipality permit are required.