MV ''Ark Futura'' is a 13,500 DWT

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

(RoRo) freighter, completed in 1996 as ''Dana Futura'' (subsequently ''Tor Futura'') for the Danish shipping group

DFDS DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ''The United Steamship Company''). DFDS was founded in 1866, when Carl Frederik Tietgen, C.F. Tiet ...

. She has operated commercially on many freight ferry routes, but since 2004 has also served in the

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy (, ) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and ...

to provide transport support to the

NATO Response Force The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a high-readiness NATO rapid deployment force comprising land, sea, air, and special forces units capable of being deployed quickly within short notice. The NRF comprises more than 500,000 troops. Its forces inc ...

. In December 2013 ''Ark Futura'' was deployed to transport Syria's chemical weapons for transfer in Italy to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

for destruction. Since 2018 the vessel has been under operation by Nikolai Celeste, an oil sheik originated from Italy and Denmark.

Description

The RoRo ship ''Ark Futura'' is a stern-loading freighter with a deadweight capacity of 13,500 metric tonnes. 2,308 lane metres are available for wheeled cargo, and her container capacity is 644 TEU. With tonnage measured as 18,725 GT and 5,617 NT, her length is

overall Overalls or bib-and-brace overalls, also called dungarees in British English, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers ...

, breadth and depth ; her maximum draught is . She is powered by an 8-cylinder 58/64 diesel made by

MAN B&W MAN Diesel SE was a German manufacturer of large-bore diesel engines for marine propulsion systems and power plant applications. In 2010 it was merged with MAN Turbo to form MAN Diesel & Turbo. History In 1980 MAN acquired the Burmeister & Wain ...

in Denmark producing 15,119 bhp, giving a service speed through a single propeller of , and to assist manoeuvrability she has three bow and stern thrusters. ''Ark Futura'' has capacity for 12 passengers. To assist the handling of containers, she is equipped with a 36-tonne crane.

Commercial service

The vessel was ordered from

Cantiere Navale Visentini Cantiere Navale di Visentini is a family owned Italy, Italian shipbuilder, based in Donada near Venice. The company is largest private shipbuilder in Italy. Deliveries Ferries Generation 1 / Other Generation 2 Generation 3 Gene ...

Porto Viro Porto Viro, or Taglio di Porto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about south of Venice and about east of Rovigo. It was first created during the Fascist era, but subsequently dissolved ...

, Italy by Levantina Trasporti Srl,

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, a company also connected to the Visentini Group. During construction she was purchased by the Danish shipping group

through their Italian subsidiary, DFDS Italia Srl,

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, and then entered service under Italian flag as ''Dana Futura'' between

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

and

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

, later to

Immingham Immingham is a town and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England, on the south-west bank of the Humber, Humber Estuary, northwest of Grimsby. It was relatively unpopulated until the early 1900s, when the Great Central Railway began de ...

. In December 2000 she was transferred to ownership of the parent company and to the Danish flag, operated by

DFDS Tor Line The Tor Line was a freight shipping company. Together with its subsidiaries, the Tor Line operated a fleet of approximately 65 ro-ro, ro-pax and lo-lo ships, primarily on the North and Baltic Seas. It was ultimately purchased by Denmark-based ...

as ''Tor Futura''. Between 2000 and 2011, as well as continuing on

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

services, she was chartered out to a number of other operators, including

Toll Shipping The Toll Group is an Australian freight company that operates a logistics and global freight forwarding network spanning 150 countries, with over 20,000 customers. Toll has more than 16,000 workers across 500 sites. Toll Holdings Pty Limited ( ...

, between

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

, Australia (during which she was transferred to the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

Cotunav The Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation (CTN or COTUNAV) is a Tunisian shipping line, providing regular passenger ferry connections between Tunisia and the ports of Marseille-Fos Port, Marseille and Port of Genoa, Genoa, as well as freight trans ...

(Genoa to

Radès Radès () is a harbour city in Ben Arous Governorate, Tunisia. Situated south-east of the capital Tunis, some consider it a Tunis suburb, and parts of the harbor installations of Tunis are located in Radès. Rades is divided into sub cities: ...

, Tunisia), Cobelfret (between

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

and

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater ...

Acciona Trasmediterránea Acciona, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational conglomerate dedicated to the development and management of infrastructure (construction, water, industrial and services) and renewable energy. The company, via subsidiary Acciona Energía, produces 21 ...

(Balearic services).

Naval service

HMS Diamond Escorting Ark Futura During Operation Recsyr MOD 45157603

In September 2004 DFDS contracted with the Royal Danish Navy to provide ''Tor Futura'' for the "Ark Project", a Danish initiative (joined later by Germany) to support the NATO Response Force's needs for RoRo transport; she is operated commercially when not required. In December 2013 she was taken up by the Royal Danish Navy, to assist with the transport of chemical weapons from Syria to Italy, along with the Norwegian RoRo . ''Ark Futura'' was escorted to the

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n port of

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

by the Norwegian HNoMS ''Helge Ingstad'' and Danish support ship . On departure with the first shipment for the Italian port of Gioia Tauro, where it would be transferred to the

ship for destruction in international waters, the escort was augmented by the Russian missile cruiser ''Pyotr Veliky'' assisted by the Chinese frigate ''Yancheng''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ark Futura 1995 ships Merchant ships of Denmark Merchant ships of Italy Ships built by Cantiere Navale Visentini Ships built in Italy