ARC Freedom joins the US flag and the Maritime Security Program as ex-Figaro
The 2011-built car and truck carrier moves from the Swedish register with capacity for nearly 8,000 units
American Roll-On/Roll-Off Carrier (ARC Group) has added the large car and truck carrier ARC Freedom, IMO 9505041, to its US-flagged fleet. The ship, formerly Figaro in the Wallenius Marine fleet, moved from the Swedish register after ownership passed to ARC in June. She will serve commercial and government customers and joins the Maritime Administration's Maritime Security Program.
Built in 2011 by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea, ARC Freedom is 231 metres long and 31,143 dwt, with capacity for nearly 8,000 car-equivalent units across 13 vehicle decks, five of them hoistable. A 6.5-metre-high main deck and door and a stern ramp rated for rolling loads of up to 320 tonnes let her carry automobiles, commercial and heavy industrial equipment and military cargo, including V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and CH-47 helicopters.
ARC, a subsidiary of Norway's Wallenius Wilhelmsen, supports the US government with a fleet of 10 ships. It already operates two other large carriers of nearly 8,000 units, with the rest of its fleet in the 6,350 to 6,736-unit range. Its US-flag ships are managed by Tote Services, and all licensed positions are filled by members of the American Maritime Officers union, which supplied the new ship's master and deck and engine officers.
"Adding the ARC Freedom to the U.S.-flag fleet is a major win for America's national security," said Captain Stephen M. Carmel, MARAD Administrator. "As a member of the Maritime Security Program, this vessel will deliver the rapid response our military depends on to keep America safe."
ARC president and chief executive Eric Ebeling tied the name to the country's 250th anniversary, calling it "a fitting name for a vessel that will carry the U.S. flag around the world". ARC takes part in both the Maritime Security Program and the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement.
The Maritime Security Program keeps a fleet of commercially viable, militarily useful merchant ships in international trade, available for Department of Defense sealift. MARAD is authorised to enrol up to 60 ships, and the programme's authorisation runs to 30 September 2035.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 28 September 2026.
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