The BYD Shenzhen AKA the world’s largest car-carrier has undocked from Yangzhou, China. Thanks to its massive size, the Shenzhen can carry up to 9,200 vehicles at a time.
THE SHENZHEN SHIP
Named after BYD’s home city, the Shenzhen is now the largest RoRo (roll-on, roll-off) in the world. Roll-on, roll-off vessels are equipped with a ramp for the loading and unloading of its carried vehicles. The Shenzhen vessel stands at a massive 718.5 feet in height and 136.7 feet in width with a maximum speed of 18.5 knots.
The EV maker also claims that the Shenzhen is also “the world’s most environmentally friendly ship.” The Shenzhen has a marine liquified natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel engine, which enables the ship to run on both LNG and marine fuel. The vessel is also equipped with “BYD box-type battery packs and shaft-belt generators.”
The Shenzhen joins BYD’s fleet of ships that include the BYD Explorer, Changzhou, and Hefei. BYD’s fleet of ships began operations last January 2024, beginning with the Explorer. The Explorer reached the shores of Spain, Germany, and Brazil on several occasions. The Changzhou followed suit with 5,000 EVs sailed to Europe from China. Meanwhile, the Hefei set sail to Hong Kong from Shanghai early in January of 2025 with 5,000 vehicles onboard.
With an arsenal of 4 vessels on hand, BYD targets a fleet of 8 operational ships by the end of the year. The company is set to launch its fifth ship, the BYD Changsha, a vessel of the same size as the Shenzhen, this year.
OVERSEAS EXPANSION
A fleet of 8 vehicle-carriers can expedite BYD’s rapid overseas expansion even more. During the launch of the Hefei last month, the company stated that they expect the vessel to “accelerate the internationalization process of China’s new energy vehicles.”
In 2024, BYD manufactured around 1.77 million EVs, overtaking Tesla by a small margin of 4,500 units. The company’s overseas sales of 417,204 units comprised up to 10 per cent of its overall global sales of 4.22 million units sold.
The Chinese EV maker has already captured several overseas EV markets, inching behind Tesla’s number 1 spot. Southeast Asia is a key region for EV makers, especially for brands from China. For example, BYD completely overtook Tesla and Japanese auto makers in overall sales in Singapore. The company’s sales rose by a staggering 337 per cent on-year for the period of January – December 2024.
To further its expansion in Southeast Asia, BYD partnered with the region’s top ride-hailing app, Grab. The EV maker will provide Grab with EVs for its fleets across the region. Additionally, BYD is set to build a facility in West Java, Indonesia, where they will also provide thousands of charging ports across the country.
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