February 1977 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News

Astilleros Espanoles Designs Versatile 12,000-DWT Ro/Ro Ship For Multiple Production

Astilleros Espanoles, S.A., 17, Padilla, Madrid 6, Spain, has developed a design of a 12,000-dwt roll-on/roll-off ship, which the firm expects to become a standard ship for multiple production.

Astilleros Espanoles engineers have incorporated considerable versatility in the ship. It is capable of transporting trailers, 20 and 40-foot containers, wheeled vehicles of any type, and heavy cargoes on wheeled platforms.

There is 7,500 linear feet of vehicle parking space, with each lane 10 feet wide. This allows for the carriage of 188 forty-foot trailers.

In order to increase capacity, such as when transporting automobiles, a movable deck is provided in the hold. Clear headroom in the hold is 17 feet 9 inches. A movable deck can be provided on the main (garage) deck where the clear headroom would then be 17 feet 9 inches. Otherwise, the headroom on the main deck is 19 feet 6 inches forward of the house and 26 feet under the house and at the stern, which allows for carrying unusual vehicles or cargo.

The total container capacity is 725 TEUs, stowed in two tiers on the three decks.

Special care has been taken in the design of all accesses so as to obtain a fast flow of traffic.

Access to the ship is through a hinged stern ramp to the main deck. This ramp is 46 feet wide so as to provide for two-way traffic.

The stern ramp serves as a watertight door when closed.

Access from the main deck to the upper deck is by an elevator on the port side, with a usable load of 50 tons. It is 65 feet 7 inches long by 11 feet 6 inches wide.

A fixed ramp on the starboard side leads to the hold (tank top), which has incorporated in it a movable ramp to provide access to the movable deck when in use.

Tf a movable deck is used in the main deck space, access to it will be made via a ramp formed by a tilting section of the movable deck.

A prospective owner has the option of specifying four large hatches in the upper deck. These would have flush hatch covers.

They would allow vertical loading of large cargoes, using two cranes fitted at the sides of the deck.

These cranes would each have a lifting capacity of 25 tons.

The ro/ro vessel has a length overall of 587 feet IV2 inches, a molded breadth of 79 feet 41/a inches, a molded depth of 51 feet 2 inches, and a draft of 23 feet 71/2 inches at a corresponding deadweight of 11,800 tons.

Due to the restricted draft, it was necessary to provide twinscrew propulsion. The two main diesel engines are AESA-Pielstick's model 12-PC-2V, each developing 7,800 bhp. This power will give a fully loaded service speed of 19 knots. To facilitate maneuvering, controllable - p i t c h propellers are used. Also, a bow thruster is incorporated in the design. The entire propulsion plant has been automated for "unmanned engine room" classification.

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