Page 5: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1971)

Seatrain Lines' GTS Euroliner on her maiden voyage to the United States. The high forecastle and extended bulwarks protect the containers stowed on deck,

Seatrain Lines' First Gas-Turbine Containership

The GTS Euroliner

First Commercial Gas-Turbine Ship Averages 26.5 Knots On Maiden East Bound

Atlantic Voyage To Set Speed Record. The Turbo-Power And Marine Systems Inc.,

Gas Turbine Powerplant Is Fully Automated For Unmanned Operation And Small Crew.

At a speed of 26.5 knots and run- ning at about 80 percent of full pow- er, the world's largest containership,

GTS Euroliner, operated by Seatrain

Lines, has set a new trans-Atlantic speed record for cargo vessels. The 798-foot, 33,500-ton (displacement) vessel cut almost a knot off the pre- viously reported record of 25.6 knots held by the GTS Admiral Callaghan.

The record was set during the maiden eastbound voyage of the Euroliner from Sandy Hook to Maas Buoy off Rotterdam.

The Euroliner is capable of carry- ing more than 900 forty-foot contain- ers and has been placed in trans-

Atlantic service by Seatrain between major U.S. East Coast ports and ports in continental Europe, Scandi- navia and the United Kingdom.

The Euroliner is the first of four gas - turbine - powered containerships to be built at the Rheinstahl Nordsee- werke yards in Germany. An identi- cal vessel, the Eurofreighter, was launched April 7 and will enter serv- ice in July. Hardly had the Euro- freighter slipped into the water than yard workmen began laying the keel for a third containership to be built on the same ways. The fourth vessel will be started later this year. The third and fourth gas-turbine-powered containerships will be in service in 1972.

The powerplants of all four ships, each developing 30,500 shp, are

FT4A-12 gas turbines derived from aircraft turbojets. However, gears, shafts and variable-pitch propellers aboard the last two ships are engi- neered for eventual installation of the more powerful FT4C-2 engines which develop 35,000 shp.

Both the owners and the charterers of the new freighters are giants in the international shipping world. Sea- train Lines, Inc., of New Jersey, is one of the largest U.S. shipping companies, with more than 50 ves- sels currently in the fleet or under construction. Seatrain Lines is en- gaged in the worldwide transport of oil and other bulk commodities in addition to its large container trade.

The firm also operates the former

Brooklyn Navy Yard, which makes it the only shipping company with its major shipbuilding capability in the United States.

All four of the gas-turbine con- tainerships leased to Seatrain Lines are owned by the Scarsdale Ship- ping Company Limited of London, a subsidiary of J.&J. Denholm, Lim- ited. This latter firm owns or man- ages nearly 50 vessels ranging from ore carriers and very large tankers to small coastal ships and large freighters which ply the major ports of the world.

The four containerships, though

European built and flying the British flag, were designed by Seatrain to standards of the American Bureau of Shipping.

The marine world is giving close Simplified arrangement scrutiny to the GTS Euroliner. The unusual attention being received by

Euroliner is fundamentally due to her propulsion system which is re- sponsible for several "firsts." 1. First privately financed air- craft-type gas-turbine cargo vessel. 2. First gas-turbine container ves- sel. 3. First gas-turbine unattended engine room cargo vessel.

Since Euroliner and her three sis- terships are initiating a new concept in marine operations, it is appropriate to examine in some detail her pro- pulsion system. The decision to use gas turbines is based on many factors but is best summed up by the words "total economics." Annual operating costs are just a part of the total pic- ture and ship's cost, or capital invest- (Continued on page 9) plan of the Euroliner's engine room shows the main units.

SHAFT

GENERATOR I

MAIN

REDUCTION

GEAR

SHAFT

GENERATOR -AUXILLARY -p DIESEL

GENERATOR

WATER-TIGHT DOOR

FOR ENGINE REMOVAL

June 1, 1971 .A 7