Inside the BYD Zhengzhou: I Got Rare Access to BYD’s Car Carrier at the Port of Melbourne

Nearly 5,000 BYD vehicles. One ship. One maiden voyage. And Beyond EV got to go on board.

When the BYD Zhengzhou docked at the Port of Melbourne recently, it wasn’t just another cargo vessel pulling into the bay. It was BYD’s seventh purpose-built roll-on/roll-off car carrier completing its maiden voyage to Australia, and we were given the rare opportunity to walk the decks, climb to the bridge, and see exactly what a floating BYD showroom looks like from the inside.

What Is the BYD Zhengzhou?

The BYD Zhengzhou is one of the most capable car carriers currently operating on the planet. Built by Guangzhou Shipyard International, the vessel measures 199.9 metres in length and 38 metres in beam, and is powered by an LNG dual-fuel propulsion system. It carries a draft of 9 metres and can reach a top speed of 18.5 knots. Across its 13 decks, it has a maximum capacity of 7,000 vehicles, with a design draught of 8.6 metres.

The ship is named after Zhengzhou, one of BYD’s major production bases, continuing the company’s tradition of naming its fleet after the Chinese cities where its vehicles are built. It sits alongside the BYD Explorer No. 1, BYD Changzhou, BYD Hefei, BYD Xi’an, BYD Shenzhen, and BYD Changsha in a growing fleet that BYD plans to grow to eight ships by 2026.

The Zhengzhou features LNG propulsion, a permanent magnet shaft generator, energy-saving devices, and eco-friendly anti-fouling paint — a meaningful step forward for an industry that has historically been one of the dirtier links in the automotive supply chain.

What Was On Board?

On this voyage, the Zhengzhou delivered 4,809 BYD vehicles to Australia with a mix dominated heavily by BYD Sharks and Sealion 8s. Walking the lower decks, it was an almost surreal experience: bumper-to-bumper BYD Sharks in every direction, stretching back further than you can comfortably see under the ship’s lighting.

One of the more impressive engineering details visible on the lower floors is the adjustable deck system. The decks raise and lower depending on the height of the vehicles being transported. Compact models like the Atto 1 allow the floors to compress, packing in more units per voyage. Taller vehicles like the Sealion 8 require expanded floor clearance. It’s a detail that sounds simple but represents a meaningful efficiency gain at scale when you’re moving thousands of vehicles per trip.

The ship operates on the RoRo (roll-on, roll-off) method, meaning vehicles are driven directly onto and off the vessel under their own power. Compared to traditional container shipping, the RoRo method offers substantial time and cost advantages, and when you’re watching a convoy of BYD Sharks rolling off the bottom deck at the Port of Melbourne, you understand exactly why BYD invested in building its own fleet rather than relying on third-party carriers.

Up to the Bridge

From the vehicle decks below, we climbed roughly 16 flights to reach the main deck, and then continued up to the bridge. The views from up there are something else entirely. Looking out across the Port of Melbourne with the city skyline in the distance, surrounded by thousands of vehicles that made a journey of nearly 10,000 kilometres from Shanghai.

Sitting in the pilot’s chair and taking in that view, you get a very real sense of the scale of what BYD has built. This isn’t a company moving product on borrowed ships. It’s a vertically integrated logistics operation. We are talking battery chemistry, vehicle manufacturing, and now ocean freight all under the one roof.

Why This Matters for Australia

The timing of the Zhengzhou’s Melbourne maiden voyage is not incidental. BYD recently reached 100,000 cumulative sales in Australia in less than three and a half years — a number that would have seemed outlandish when the brand launched here in early 2023. The brand finished 2025 as Australia’s eighth-best-selling automotive brand with a 4.3 per cent market share. By May 2026, that market share had climbed to 8.2 per cent, with the Sealion 7 its most popular model ahead of the Shark 6.

Having your own dedicated shipping fleet changes the supply dynamic significantly. It means BYD controls its own delivery timelines, isn’t at the mercy of third-party carrier availability, and can respond faster to surging demand in markets like Australia. When volume doubles year-on-year — BYD sold 52,415 vehicles in Australia in 2025, up 156.2 per cent on 2024 — that kind of logistics control isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Standing on the bridge of the BYD Zhengzhou at the Port of Melbourne, I asked the question to our viewers: has the Australian automotive landscape changed forever? I think most people watching already know the answer.

BYD Zhengzhou — Key Specs

Watch the full tour on the Beyond EV YouTube channel. If you’ve got thoughts on what BYD’s shipping fleet means for the Australian market, drop them in the comments below.