United European Car Carriers (UECC) is positioning itself to boost eco-friendly shipments of Chinese-built vehicles across its extensive European short sea trade network after signing an agreement with NYK Multimodal Transportation (Shanghai) (NMTS) to serve as its commercial agent in China.

The East Asian country is rapidly expanding as a major automotive manufacturing hub – particularly for electric vehicles – with an estimated 579,000 EVs exported from China to Europe in the first 11 months of 2025, according to a Morgan Stanley analysis.

Chinese vehicle manufacturers are also ramping up development of local production plants in Europe to simplify logistics for exports to target markets on the continent in response to growing demand.

‘Strategic positioning’

“This key agreement with NMTS will enable UECC to capture valuable opportunities with Chinese exporters for shipments of vehicles – as well as high & heavy equipment – that are manufactured in Europe or being shipped from China to the continent for onwards feedering in Europe,” explains UECC’s Head of High & Heavy and Network Sales, Sven Jansen.

He says NMTS was selected following a thorough tender evaluation process on the basis of its capabilities, market knowledge and alignment with UECC’s strategic goals as the leading provider of sustainable short sea RoRo shipping in Europe.

“Having NMTS onboard gives us strategic positioning to secure cargo flows and strengthen relationships with key industry players in China, providing access to both major automotive and high & heavy OEMs, as well as project cargo players, deepsea lines and freight forwarders,” Jansen adds.

NMTS will promote UECC’s European service network and handle shipment bookings, while providing statistical reports and canvassing for new cargo opportunities, through its sales teams in Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou covering northern, central and southern China.

Meeting sustainability demands

Consequently, Jansen now anticipates further significant growth in shipment volumes on UECC’s main North-South service spanning the Mediterranean and Northern Europe that is currently served by seven vessels covering 12 ports from Germany to Turkey.

This follows recent increases in sailing frequency and capacity on the key trade route as UECC has expanded its eco-friendly fleet of Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTCs) to 16 vessels.  

UECC’s Sail for Change environmental initiative has generated significant savings in CO2 emissions for several major automotive OEMs through bunkering of liquefied biomethane on dual-fuel LNG PCTCs plying the route.

“Following the agreement with NMTS, we are looking forward to welcoming onboard new Chinese customers to take advantage of our high-capacity, efficient and sustainable shipping services in Europe,” Jansen concludes.

For more information contact:

Bjorn O. Gran Svenningsen, Director Sales & Marketing, UECC 

Email: bsv@uecc.com

About UECC
UECC (United European Car Carriers) is a leading provider of sustainable short sea RoRo transportation in Europe, operating a fleet of Pure Car and Truck Carriers in a pan-European service network. The company also offers its customers door-to-door supply chain solutions and operates several vehicle terminals in major European ports. UECC's headquarters are based in Oslo, Norway, with subsidiary companies and branch offices around Europe.

Commercial agent NMTS is looking to secure new cargo flows for UECC’s European short sea network