China has just launched its first RoRo (Roll On, Roll Off) ship designed and built in China. This ship has considerable military use, as it can carry up to 5,000 vehicles (cars and light trucks), or over a thousand armored vehicles. This new ship, the "Spirit" is 14,400 tons displacement, 567 feet long, 100 feet wide and 105 feet high. It has nine fixed and thee adjustable decks for vehicles. A RoRo ship moves next to a dock and then deploys ramps so that its cargo of vehicles can drive right off. If, for example, China were invading Taiwan, a RoRo ship could move into a recently captured port, and unload an armored brigade in a few hours.
The ship is owned by COSCO, which is basically a PLAN auxiliary.
With ships able to sail directly from China to Taiwan, it would be in Taiwan's interest to keep very close tabs on the locations of China's RoRo ships.
