The maiden voyage of the Orca Ace, a Japanese-built car carrier, swung by Vancouver on Wednesday as the first stop in a trip down the West Coast.
Capt. Yury Golovatyuk and his 22-member crew stopped at the Port of Vancouver on Wednesday to unload 2,300 Subaru vehicles. The cars will be processed at the port and shipped to buyers across the northern United States.
The ship was constructed in Hitachinaka, Japan, and started its maiden voyage across the Pacific Ocean last month. It’s owned by Lunar River Line S.A. of Panama and operated by Mitsui OSK Line Ltd.
Lauded as a “next-generation car carrier,” the ship is 656 feet long with a deadweight capacity of 15,495 metric tons, according to a media release from the port. The hull’s shape, along with an upgraded two-stroke engine, reportedly help reduce the Orca Ace’s carbon emissions.
Mitsui announced the design for its next-gen car carriers, called FLEXIE, in April 2016. The ship’s bows have a rounded shape engineered to minimize wind resistance. It’s expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 2 percent compared to traditional car carriers, the company stated upon its release.
The Orca Ace was preceded by the Beluga Ace, a fellow FLEXIE vessel delivered from Japan in March.
Warm welcome
Upon their arrival in Southwest Washington, Golovatyuk and crew were welcomed to Vancouver by representatives from Ports America, Norton Lilly International, Subaru of America, Auto Warehouse Corporation and the port. International Longshore and Warehouse Union crews discharged the vehicles on board.
Now the Orca Ace is headed south, stopping at several West Coast ports before docking at her final destination in San Diego. As of press time, the vessel was en route to Richmond, Calif.
