Ro-ro stands for Rolling-in, Rolling-out ships. That means cars, trucks and even sometimes trains can get in and out of the ship by itself. It contrasts with container ships, where machinery help is needed to fill the ship.
This ro-ro ships accept usually passengers. If the port of departure and arrival have the means to deal with passengers – enough border controls. Other simpler name is “ferry”, used when the ship is more targeted to passengers and takes some cars or trucks.
On this trip I wanted to take a ro-ro ship that travels from Georgia to Romania. It is an Ukrainian company and ship, which used to travel from Georgia to Odessa, but had to change ports due to the war. On the website they talk about transporting passengers but on the first contact they said that Constanta port in Romania does not accept them, so I could not go.
The second option is a Bulgarian ship that travels to Burgas. It is not so practical for train connections, however. When preparing the trip, the planned day for the boat to leave Batumi was Monday 27 November, which was perfect. The boat takes 60 hours (2.5 days) to cross the black sea, including boarding time.
Checking myshiptracking.com for the Drujba vessel, I see that some weeks ago it had a problem near Burgas and cancelled a trip. Then, probably due to the storm last weekend, one trip lasted almost one day longer than usual. These are problems to expect, and for my trip difficult to fit. I’ve to rearrange my schedule accordingly.
Several cyclists use this kind of ship to cross the Black Sea or the Caspian Sea. One can even cross the Atlantic, however it takes 3 to 5 weeks, as the ship goes to several ports of call in America, Africa and Europe. There are days where you just hang, without internet.
Let’s see if I manage to do it this time.