VIII Conference on Port Logistics and Transport

The Ship – Technological Limits

Prof.Dr.Ing. Volker Bertram

No. 2

Historical developmentLimiting factorsMain dimensionsSize and powerOther aspectsConclusion

No. 3

Container shipping started in the 1950s

No. 4

Rapid growth of ship size

first-generation ~1000 TEU

Panamax ~4500 TEU

Post-Panamax ~8000 TEU

Megaboxer >12000 TEU

since 1988

No. 5

Historical developmentLimiting factorsMain dimensionsSize and powerOther aspectsConclusion

No. 6

Several factors limit ship size

Technical aspects: - limits for main dimensions- power- ...

“Soft” aspects: - available cargo- logistics- intermediate storage- ...

No. 7

Logistics may pose stricter limits

Questions to discuss:

- Do we have enough cargo to fill larger ships?

- Is it more economical to serve different slings?

- Do the economies of scale in transport outweigh the costs

for dredging, crane infrastructure, etc?

- Will the same turn-over time in port be feasible?

- ...

No. 8

Historical developmentLimiting factorsMain dimensionsSize and powerOther aspectsConclusion

No. 9

Building facilities ?

Source: Hansa

Can we build bigger container ships?

No. 10

No problem

million-ton docks exist...

Source: Mitsubishi H.I.

No. 11

How about locks ?

Source: Hansa

Will they pass through the main shipping routes?

No. 12

Panama Canal as “bottleneck”

New locks:

lock ship

length 427.0 m 365.76 mwidth 55.0 m 48.77 mdepth 18.3 m 15.24 m

“New Panamax”:12000...13500 TEU

Figura 25 El proyecto del tercer juego de esclusas se construirá en el sitio de las excavaciones de 1939 dentro de áreas de funcionamiento del Canal

Figura 25 El proyecto del tercer juego de esclusas se construirá en el sitio de las excavaciones de 1939 dentro de áreas de funcionamiento del Canal

Figura 25 El proyecto del tercer juego de esclusas se construirá en el sitio de las excavaciones de 1939 dentro de áreas de funcionamiento del Canal

No. 13

Loa = 365.60 m < 365.76 m

B = 48.60 m < 48.77 m

T = 15.00 m < 15.24 m

“New Panamax” up to 13.400 TEU

all present vessels in Korea have this design

based on co-operative study of GL / HHI

No. 14

No increase in draught – Limits reached

10

11

12

13

14

15

162500

3500

4500

5500

6500

7500

8500

9500

10500

11500

12500

13500

14500

Ship Size in TEU

Dra

ught

No. 15

Offshore ports discussed in media

No. 16

How about cranes ?

Outreach ?

Will we need new terminals?

No. 17

Crane Outreach – Limits approached

No new terminals,but width “limited”

No. 18

Historical developmentLimiting factorsMain dimensionsSize and powerOther aspectsConclusion

No. 19

Container ships need a lot of power

Main engine of 8200 TEU container ship:Max. power: 68650 kW

12 cylinder, 160 t/cylinder

Fuel consumption: 230 t/day at 25 kn

No. 20

New diesels for bigger ships

Single engine concept

so far maintained

JIT growth

of diesel engines

No. 21

So far just more cylinders added

Single Propeller / 2 Stroke Engine

12 Cylinder

P = 68.500 kWn = 104 min-1

m = 2150 tL = 24,6 m

14 Cylinder

P = 80.000 kWn = 104 min-1

m = 2400 tL = 28 m

16 Cylinder

P = 92.000 kWn = 104 min-1

m = 2650 tL = 31,5 m

No. 22

Limits reached for propeller loadingRudder cavitation as consequence of high propeller loading

No. 23

Historical developmentLimiting factorsMain dimensionsSize and powerOther aspectsConclusion

No. 24

Global strength – No problem

Global strength analyses performed by GL

No. 25

Slamming loads & whipping – No problem

Dynamic analyses performed by GL

No. 26

Steel thickness no limiting factor

78 mm

Welding technologyhas progressed

Ultra-high tensile steels under development

No. 27

How about stacking containers?

No. 28

Limits reached in practice

ISO standard and GL rules limit stacking

More tiers only for lower weight of containers

a. 32 t per 40‘ container for 10 tierb. 29 t per 40‘ container for 11 tierc. 26 t per 40‘ container for 12 tier

No. 29

Larger dynamic forces on deck

No. 30

67 m

from

kee

l to

funn

el

Stacking limits reasonable height

34.3

0 m

32.4

6 m

Air draught up to 56.0 m

8 tie

rs =

23.

168m

3.4 m

~ 7.0 m

No. 31

Historical developmentLimiting factorsMain dimensionsSize and powerOther aspectsConclusion

No. 32

Conclusion

• Growth of container ships not yet finished

• Strength of containers limits height

• “Maximum” draught reached

• Global strength can be handled by advanced engineering

• Twin-engine, twin-screw ships can push power limit

Larger ships technically feasible

No. 33

The End ?

Thank you for your attention

?