Page 35: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1999)

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Stern Landing Vessels (SLV's) are a uniquely designed vessel from Sea Transport Solutions — ves- sels which incorporate a number of outstanding fea- tures to adequately answer problems inherent in con- ventional craft. The vessels offer not only a breadth of opportunity and operational flexibility for owners, but provide significant benefits for builders wishing to capture a unique passenger/utility/container/RoRo niche.

The SLV was conceived as a relatively easy-to-build vessel, able to address many operational challenges facing traditional craft. For example, problems such as: • Head seas: which can cause slamming, jarring and result in significant speed reduction; • Poor visibility: as the bow ramp of some vessels, in the stow position, can create blind spots from the wheelhouse; • Machinery placement: the wheelhouse on top of the machinery can cause breakdowns in concentration and fatigue due to noise and vibration; and • Beaching/de-beaching: traditional vessels can fre- quently encounter difficulty, particularly when the bow has grounded. • Lack of deadweight: limited by the relatively low profile of the GZ curve, or a relatively small righting lever, the small freeboard and the free surface of numerous below deck flat bottom tanks.

Positioned as the "solution" is the SLV, a product that

ASDMAR claims is a better alternative with several working case studies as examples. The SLV incorpo- rates a shallow V hull with two side pods. The pods house the engines, helping to improve the vessel's

SLV s Carve Lucrative Niche

The perfect cruise. The perfect vacation. And in the heat of the day, passengers can escape to the perfect climate. Because you have Carrier air conditioning and refrigeration on board. Isn't that a comfort?