The world's largest, most environmentally friendly Ro-Ro (Roll-on/Roll-off) ship, Höegh Aurora, docks at Shanghai's Nangang Port, as it prepares for its maiden voyage. [Photo/WeChat account: pdnews]

The world's largest, more environmentally-friendly Ro-Ro (Roll-on/Roll-off) ship, Höegh Aurora, set out for its maiden voyage from Shanghai's Nangang Port on Aug 9.

The vessel, owned by Hoegh Autoliners, is the Norwegian company's first Aurora-class Ro-Ro ship, which is set to demonstrate the feasibility of transitioning from conventional fuel to sustainable alternatives.

The ship is 196.4 meters long, 37.6 meters wide and 14.53 meters tall. It has a reinforced deck and internal ramp system, allowing cars to be loaded on 14 decks. With a design draft of 9.35 meters, it is capable of carrying up to 9,100 vehicles.

The ship can use liquified natural gas, ammonia or methanol as fuel for propulsion. It is also equipped with 1,500 square meters of solar panels, which can reduce the amount of electricity generated by the motor by 30 to 35 percent.

According to Hoegh Autoliners which plans to expand its Aurora fleet to 12 vessels by 2027, Aurora can cut carbon emissions per car transported by 58 percent compared to the current industry standard.

After receiving 1,800 cubic meters of liquified national gas provided by Hai Gang Wei Lai, one of the two LNG bunkering vessels based in Shanghai's Yangshan Port, the ship headed to Japan on Aug 9.

According to Yangshan Customs, the ship mainly travels along European routes and goes back and forth between major East Asian and European countries that produce and buy cars.