Page 8: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2000)

Investment in Design

Behemoth in the offing?

Will LR's conceptual design for a 12,500-TEU Containership be pipe dream or reality?

Attuned to the liner shipping industry's unerring drive for economies of scale, classification soci- ety Lloyd's Register (LR) has developed a conceptual design of container vessel incorporating a 12,500-TEU capacity.

Although some 55-60 percent greater in slot capacity than the biggest cellular vessels ordered to date, the envisaged

Ultra Large Container Ship (ULCS) would be able to transit the Suez Canal

I and access key ports.

LR considers that there are no insurmountable technical challenges to

I vessels of 12,500 TEU, and believes that it is only a matter of time before such tonnage makes its appearance in deep sea trade. The next five to 10 years could see the uptake of the envisaged new breed of behemoths by the contain- er shipping industry.

The society has examined structural, dynamic behavior and performance aspects relating to the tentative design.

Key elements of the program included the development of mid-ship scantlings, investigations into hull girder bending and torsional response, and considera- tion of maneuvering and propulsion aspects.

The development of the concept design followed on from a study jointly undertaken by LR and the independent

U.K. firm Ocean Shipping Consultants, to identify the optimum size of post-

Panamax vessel that could potentially be supported by current and forecast trade demand and the port network.

A primary objective of LR was to sub- sequently determine possible structural problems that might be encountered with a ship offering a cargo capacity substantially in excess of the currently attained 8,000 TEU category.

While the studies indicated limits to scale economies, it was clear that the upper point had by no means yet been reached. Taking due account of key fac- tors determining maximum vessel size, not least questions of port access and terminal infrastructure, a vessel of by David Tinsley, technical editor approximately 12,500 TEU was identi- fied as the optimum ULCS. The dimen- sions of the ensuing design drawn up by

LR are compatible with maximum per- missible draft restrictions through the

Suez Canal, and reflect existing and planned developments at key terminals in the long-haul trades. The largest post-panamax vessels contracted so far have practical container intake capaci- ties in the 7,000-8,000 TEU range.

Hapag-Lloyd's recently-ordered quartet of 25-knot vessels from Hyundai Heavy

Industries have advertised, nominal capacities of 7,200 TEU, and have been specified with the most potent propul- sive power plant currently available.

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