The RoRo ship New Amsterdam left Eemshaven on 25 July for the port of Klaipeda in Lithuania. The Dutch Ministry of Defence will charter the ship from TransProCon for the next ten years; previously the choice was made to rent a ship occasionally.

It has become increasingly expensive and difficult for the Dutch Ministry of Defence to rent a RoRo ship when needed, due to the increasing scarcity of such ships on the market, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was therefore decided to lease the New Amsterdam for 10 years, thus removing the uncertainty.

“Military personnel must be able to count on the logistics being in order during their deployment. Anyone who looks at the war in Ukraine will see the importance of good logistics and timely provisioning. Strategic transport is a bottleneck and that is why I am so happy with this cooperation”, states Commander of the Armed Forces General Onno Eichelsheim on the Defence website.

The ship is 193 metres long and 26 metres wide. On board, there is room for 200 containers and 300 vehicles with an average length of 6 metres. A crane on board is capable of hoisting more than 40,000 kilos of equipment. If necessary, the ship is able to load and unload without the cargo doors resting on the quay.

According to MarineTraffic, the ship will arrive in Lithuania on 28 July.

Source: Schuttevaer