Roadships America (USA) is developing new shipping capabilities addressing rapidly growing freight demand and the spiraling costs of highway construction and maintenance. Investigation of U.S. and international markets has demonstrated that Roll-on/Roll-off high speed vessels are not only needed in the marketplace, but that their entry is considerably overdue. In partnership with Aker Yards Marine, a proposed new generation Roll-on/Roll-off high speed vessel was designed to provide fast delivery of trailers in coastal and short sea trades.

The new High-Speed Monohull design, at 200 meters LOA, 7 meters draft and a service speed of 30 knots is appropriately capable of offering ready access to coastal ports and speedy delivery of cargoes. The design is similar to many traditional Roll-on/Roll-off vessels in that cargo is loaded via the stern of the ship through its upward-opening stern gate. The major difference with the Roadships concept is that separate loading ramps lead from the dock to each of the cargo decks, thereby eliminating internal ramp systems and enabling wheeled trailers to be loaded and discharged simultaneously to each cargo deck. Vessel and portside operations will be simpler and less costly than operation of single ramp Roll-on/Roll-off vessels.

Unlike traditional containerships, the High Speed Monohull benefits from having the majority of the cargo below decks and only a limited number of trailer units on the weather deck to reduce the amount of the cargo exposed to the effects of the sea. Wide, unobstructed cargo decks hold maximum payload and loading and discharging time is cut virtually in half with two-tier cargo ramps. Simplified docking also lends itself to automated mooring systems that will substantially reduce time in port.

It is anticipated that these new vessels will revolutionize coastal highway transport make it faster and more competitive, and compliment existing truck and rail freight infrastructures. In its initial phase, Roadships intends to build a series of eight vessels – two in Europe and six in the Unites States for deployment in the Australian and U.S. coastal trades.

Aker Marine has recently completed the design of a new and innovative Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) for the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). Two of these 85-meter vessels are now under construction at Tenix Defence Marine Division’s Williamstown shipyard near Melbourne (Australia). Steel cutting commenced in February 2005 and the ships are scheduled for delivery in2007. The OPVs are part of the seven-ship ‘Project Protector’, which also includes the delivery of one 130-meter Multi-Role Vessel (MRV) and four Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPV).

This OPV design is based on Aker Marine’s proven OPV design portfolio, which includes vessels currently operating successfully for the Republic of Ireland, and the governments of Mauritius and Canada. These designs all utilize commercial off the shelf (COTS) equipment and were constructed to commercial standards to create an extremely cost effective platform for territorial patrol duties. The cost-effective qualities of these vessels are attractive to nations like New Zealand that have limited military budgets.

OPVs offer an alternative to employing higher priced frigates and destroyers to perform duties such as illegal immigration surveillance, drug interdiction, search and rescue, fisheries and environment enforcement and countering terrorism. Aker Marine has worked closely with Tenix and the New Zealand Ministry of Defence (NZMoD) to develop a design that fully meets the requirements of the Contract.

The ship is designed to have excellent seakeeping qualities, 6,000 nautical mile endurance, and an ice strengthened hull, which enables the vessel to patrol the Ross Sea near Antarctica in the summer months. Replicating the RNZN ANZAC frigates, the vessel carries complete helicopter facilities including flight deck with night landing capability, basic maintenance hangar and refueling facility. The vessel is fitted with two sea boats to assist with small vessel boarding. The sea boats can be rapidly launched in sea conditions up to Sea State 4. The vessel is also outfitted to support a 30-person Special Operation Force and associated equipment including the launch and recovery of its 11m boats. Aker Marine has been involved from the concept, proposal design, classification package and has now completed a detailed 3D production model of the ship structure and mechanical systems using ShipConstructor software.

Transboréal Cruise Inc. (TCI) of Québec has selected Kvaerner Masa Marine (KMM), a naval architecture and marine engineering consulting company in Vancouver and its parent company, the cruise ship giant, Kvaerner Masa Yards (KMY) in Finland to prepare the design for two new passenger/vehicle cruise ferries. The vessels will be designed for year round operation on the St. Lawrence Seaway and the waters of Canada’s East Coast.

TCI recently signed a contract with KMY in Finland for development of general arrangement and hull form for the two vessels. KMM with offices in Vancouver and Annapolis, Maryland, will be responsible for the preparation of preliminary and contract design packages required for Regulatory Body approval and Shipyard construction cost estimates.

The vessels, when built, will be about 190m in length with a breadth of 28m in order to accommodate 1000 passengers and approximately 3000 lane-meters for vehicles on its seven decks. The vessel’s upper decks will provide facilities that include fine dining, entertainment, retail stores and comfortable overnight accommodation. The two, lower decks being arranged to facilitate the transportation of cars, trucks and tractor-trailers.

A contract for the construction of the two cruise ships valued at around US$440M, may very well be awarded to a Canadian shipyard by year’s end. It is estimated that this contract would provide employment for up to 1500 people for the next 2 years.