Eight New Coastal RoRos Slated for U.S.
Maritime Transport & Logistics Advisors, LLC (MTLA) an industry consulting firm based in Ft. Lauderdale, FL has been engaged by Roadships America, Inc. to provide research and analysis of the U.S. Coastal Transport market, as well as assistance with operational considerations in the final design stages of Roadships’ new generation high speed Ro/Ro vessels. Roadships America, Inc., a Reno, NV company is owned by U.S. and foreign investors.Roadships in partnership with Aker Marine, Inc. has been developing a high speed Ro/Ro vessel, designed initially for coastal transport between Melbourne and Perth in Australia. Roadships now plans to build additional ships for use in the U.S. coastal transport trade. Roadships has been following the coastal transportation initiative of the U.S. Maritime Administration and the potential need for high speed Ro/Ro ships in the U.S. including ongoing dialog with MTLA since 2004.
This year, Roadships engaged MTLA to assist in its determination of market potential and the opportunities for its new generation vessels. MTLA provided analyses of port infrastructure, service levels and operating costs, in addition to providing assistance in vessel design, vessel operational requirements and the commercial feasibility for Roadships’ vessels in U.S. Jones Act and other transport areas. Roadships America, Inc. has now finalized the design of their new generation vessels. Roadships’ initial plan is to build eight (8) new vessels - two (2) in a foreign yard to be leased to an operator in Australia and six (6) U.S. built Jones Act vessels to be leased to a Section 2, Jones Act operator.