Definition
Ro-ro traffic, or wheeled cargo, is that of goods that enter and leave the ship on wheels, over a ramp: lorries, semi-trailers, flatbed trailers and new vehicles. The term is short for roll-on/roll-off.
It needs no cranes, which shortens the call and allows ship and road to be combined in a single transport chain. It is the system used on the services to the islands and to North Africa, and on the motorways of the sea between European countries.
The statistics measure it in two ways: in tonnes of cargo and in intermodal transport units (ITU), which count the lorries, trailers and flatbed trailers shipped. Ships that carry ro-ro cargo and passengers at the same time are called ro-pax.
The figure · August 2026
Year to date · January–August 2026
50.6 million tonnes
August 2026 only
5.76 million tonnes
First port
10.6 million tonnes
In transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms)
2.16 million transport units (lorries, trailers and platforms)
Ro-ro traffic in Spanish ports in 2026
Spanish ports handled 50.6 million tonnes of ro-ro traffic in the year to August 2026, 0.2% more than in the same period of 2025. In August alone, the figure was 5.76 million tonnes, 6.2% more than in August 2025.
The full ranking, the trend and the table are in the indicator Ro-ro traffic in Spanish ports. To explore the data in detail, see PortStats · ro-ro traffic by port, annual series.