One of the world’s largest car carriers, the Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) “BYD Shenzhen” from Chinese car manufacturer BYD, has moored at the BLG Autoterminal in Bremerhaven’s Osthafen and unloaded or loaded an as yet undisclosed number of vehicles.
The 219 m long and 37.7 m wide freighter was built at a shipyard in Yangzhou and delivered in April of this year. The “BYD Shenzehn” can transport up to 9,200 standard vehicles (CEU) on 16 decks. This is now BYD’s fourth car freighter. The company plans to launch a total of eight cargo ships by the beginning of 2026 in order to drive forward its global expansion. Around €640 million has been earmarked for the construction of these ships, with two further freighters available to order.
The Hong Kong-based “BYD Shenzhen” is a 20-meter longer version of the three predecessor ships “BYD Exlorer No. 1”, “BYD Hefei” and “BYD Changzhou”, which have a capacity of around 7,000 cars. The first ship, the chartered 199.9 m long “BYD “Explorer No.1”, which was built by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), made its first appearance at the BLG car terminal in Bremerhaven a year and a half ago and has since been back to the seaside city several times to unload cargo. With its own fleet of ships, BYD wants to control the export of its vehicles itself and not be slowed down by a lack of freight capacity.
As BYD explained, the “BYD Shenzhen” is not only one of the largest, but also the “most environmentally friendly car transporter in the world”, primarily thanks to its dual-fuel technology, which allows it to run on both marine diesel and LNG. The service speed is 18.5 knots (approx. 34 km/h).
The freighter completed its maiden voyage at the beginning of May with over 7,000 electric cars on board from China to South America, with Brazil currently being BYD’s largest overseas market. Last year, 76,713 BYD vehicles were registered there, an increase of 327.7% compared to the previous year. Models such as the BYD Song Pro and the Seagull helped BYD to become the fastest growing car brand in Brazil in 2024. BYD has also led the way among Chinese manufacturers in terms of investment in Brazil in the last two years. With the first trip of the “BYD Shenzhen” to Brazil, BYD is underlining its focus on sustainable development in the South American country.
