# First real innovation in containerships design for ages



## Geoff Gower (Sep 8, 2011)

Maersk Line, a unit in shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk, said on Tuesday it had ordered 11 ultra-large container vessels from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co (DSME) .
The contract has a value of $1.8 billion, or around $163 million per ship, about 4% more than order price OOCL contracted Samsung Heavy Industries to build in March. Maersk’s deal includes an option for another six vessels. The hull of the new ships will be nearly identical to the Triple-E class but TEU container capacity will increase by seven percent. How Daewo and Maersk will achieve the capacity increase is unknown but Daewoo competitor HHI announced DNV GL approval of their new Skyhook system. SkyBench was also announced yesterday but first demonstrated at the SMM trade fair in Hamburg last year. The SkyBench concept is an innovative design to increase the cargo capacity of large container vessels. The bridge and upper three decks of a “twin island” design container would be constructed as a separate sliding block, mounted on rails and able to move over the length of two 40ft container bays. In combination with a resizing and relocation of fuel tanks and the utilization of the void spaces beneath the accommodation block in a traditional design, this allows the addition of two extra 20ft container bays. The resulting cargo increase amounts to 270 TEU on a 17-row wide 10,000 TEU ship, 450 TEU on a 23-row wide 19,000 TEU ship and 350 TEU on a 20-row wide 14,000 TEU vessel. “We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to DNV GL for the approval of our SkyBench concept design,” said Yoon Moon-kyoon, Senior Executive Vice President & COO of HHI’s Shipbuilding Division. “As we have been doing over the past four decades, we will continue to provide competitive ships differentiated from others in terms of quality, reliability and technological capabilities to our valued clients. I believe that SkyBench, like many other previous technological breakthroughs we have shown to the world, will surely bring benefits to our customers.”
“This was an extremely interesting and exciting project and we are very pleased that HHI selected us to work with them to realize this concept,” said Tor E. Svensen. “The SkyBench shows how the industry’s increased focus on efficiency and maximizing transport capacity has really sparked innovation in design and operation.”
The SkyBench mechanism takes ten minutes to operate, using four electric drive train units to move the block backwards from its normal position. The two 40ft side casings on which the accommodation block rests provide structural strength and hold lifeboats, provision cranes and utility rooms. In an emergency, the sliding block is detachable and is designed to float independently of the vessel. 
It is unlikely (but possible) that Daewoo will license the Skyhook technology from a competitor, so it will be interesting to see just how cargo capacity will increase 7%.


----------



## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

The long term reliability of the electrical connections will be interesting - plug systems wear and wandering leads are prone to damage.


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

I am sure it will all work as designed when it is new, but given time and salt water? Reminds me of the detachable F-111 cockpit which was designed to part from the aircraft like a space capsule and then float down to earth or sea with the two Crew safe inside. Unfortunately given time, weather and a loss of life in a F-111 flying in Scotland the explosive bolts were found not to work when an emergency occurred.


----------



## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

chadburn said:


> I am sure it will all work as designed when it is new, but given time and salt water? Reminds me of the detachable F-111 cockpit which was designed to part from the aircraft like a space capsule and then float down to earth or sea with the two Crew safe inside. Unfortunately given time, weather and a loss of life in a F-111 flying in Scotland the explosive bolts were found not to work when an emergency occurred.


Somewhere I've got a copy of the Fairplay book "On the Rocks" an anthology of apocryphal insurance tales - one concerns a coaster with a wandering lead steering control to allow single handed berthing - only one bridge wing door open - the other locked internally, Master goes out on the bridge wing and the ship pitches slightly, door slams shut and severs cable, jamming in the process - vessel berths in an uncontrolled manner.


----------



## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

During the recent school hols I took the Grandchildren up to the newly re-furbished Transporter Bridge. One of the many alterations is that the Gondola is now remotely controlled ( it was controlled by a man who was positioned in the 'shed' above the Gondola). The man who shuts the gates is still on the Gondola, the whole journey across the river is Radio Controlled by a man shoreside. Hopefully they have checked that the frequency they work on is not the same as the taxi's or indeed a ships radio.


----------



## Mad Landsman (Dec 1, 2005)

chadburn said:


> During the recent school hols I took the Grandchildren up to the newly re-furbished Transporter Bridge. One of the many alterations is that the Gondola is now remotely controlled ( it was controlled by a man who was positioned in the 'shed' above the Gondola). The man who shuts the gates is still on the Gondola, the whole journey across the river is Radio Controlled by a man shoreside. Hopefully they have checked that the frequency they work on is not the same as the taxi's or indeed a ships radio.


Now apparently becoming the norm for building site tower cranes, and others. The driver operates the crane from the ground by radio and the contractor does not have to employ a separate banksman -thus saving money.


----------



## Aberdonian (Apr 7, 2011)

*Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge*

An aside: My one-time neighbour across the road, retired Bill Midgley – an ex Royal Marine whose later service in the police force covered Middlesbrough – described to me in conversation how he once climbed to the top of the Transporter Bridge so as to talk down a would-be jumper.

Keith


----------



## Geoff Gower (Sep 8, 2011)

*Great idea but !!!*

Would appear that proposed method is similar to that used on container quay cranes but I worry what happens if vessel is subject to excessive rolling in a heavy sea ! Would the whole bridge structure fall over the side ?????


----------



## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

I imagine this is one class of Maersk vessels that will not enjoy a further operational lifetime once the building owner has finished with them!

The longevity of all connections, not just those electrical will be interesting.


----------



## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

It has suddenly occurred to me, old fashioned trains had a warning about flushing whilst standing in a station. Will this vessel have a similar warning about flushing whilst the module is moving, particularly if any antipodean wharfies are in the vicinity?


----------



## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

From a component count point of view I think that, instead of soil/black water plumbing with much universal articulation to allow containment of sanitary throughput between continuous hull and the 'accommodation' whilst perambulating, Mr. Connolly's Jobbie Wheeker might be gainfully employed. In order to comply with MARPOL it might be necessary to marry the Wheeker with a Jobbie Catcher and to provide it with some automatic Wheek-thrust amplitude control. In Somali waters (and similar pointless areas of the Earth's surface) some variation in the Wheeker's aim might be incorporated for the purposes of discouraging the motions of pirate craft.


----------



## funnelstays (Nov 19, 2008)

From my experience with RoRo i.e. Bow doors,making things on ships that are not really supposed to move:move is inherently fraught with danger.
I would never thought l would see the day that l could be living on top of a hatch cover.


----------

