NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Before a car hits the road, it’s likely to have sailed the high seas aboard a massive, specialized ship: a roll-on/roll-off car carrier.

These large vessels, resembling giant floating garages, can carry thousands of cars at a time. Over decades, Japan, long an automotive powerhouse, has built a globally dominant fleet of car carriers. According to data from Clarksons Research, nearly 40% of the world’s car carrier fleet is Japanese, as measured both by the number of vessels and the capacity of the ships.

Photo courtesy of JAXPORT.