Back in the 70s, the advent of oceangoing ships with wheeled cargo introduced the shipping community to the Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off.)  Since then acronyms with an “o” sound have gained in popularity.  General cargo and container ships became Lo-Los (lift-on/lift-off). Combination bulk carriers became OBOs  (ore-bulk-oilers) or just OOs (ore/oilers) and so on.  Today we will look at the world’s largest Wo-Wos, which is to say Walk-on/ Walk-off ships, in which the paying cargo is ambulatory. The ships are the cruise ship Oasis of the Seas and the livestock carrier, Ocean Shearer.

The ship to the left is the Wo-Wo Oasis of the Seas. At 225,000 GT, she is currently one of the largest class of cruise ships. Operated by Royal Caribbean Lines, she can carry over 6,000 passengers and something like 2,300 crew. Many have concerns over the ability to evacuate such a large number in an emergency. For comparison purposes, the Titanic carried 2,207 passengers and crew when she encountered the iceberg. The Costa Concordia had 4,252 passengers and crew aboard when she made her unplanned port call at  Isola del Giglio in 2012.

The ship to the right is another Wo-Wo, the Ocean Shearer, ex-Deneb Prima, which was the largest livestock carrier in the world when she was retired in 2012. At around 51,000 GT, she is a considerably smaller ship than the Oasis of the Seas, though she can carry more passengers. As the Deneb Prima, she carried 20,000 cattle plus 2000 sheep per voyage. While the common areas are not a luxurious as cruise ships, the needs of the passengers aboard livestock carriers still must be met.  Average sized cattle require at least forty litres of water per head – per day. Sheep require at least four litres per head – per day.  Sheep and cattle also require fodder amounting to at least 2% of their body weight per day. Rumor has it that there was no midnight buffet on the Ocean Shearer.