D1 Intermodal transport: sea/port interface

Efficiency and safety aspects of light

weight ship constructions and the
interface with the port
Peter Grundevik, SSPA Sweden AB
Analyses have been made of the interface between the port
terminal and the high-speed ship in order to raise efficiency.
The development of a toolbox to enable the port to develop
generic berth constructions is one part and the physical flow of
objects, the terminal layout and the general port infrastructure
are others under investigation for optimisation.
Manoeuvring tests have been performed in deep and shallow
water for a fast catamaran and for a fast single hull and
mooring tests in irregular waves for the vessels lying along a
quay in deep and shallow water. These tests have been carried
out in order to serve as a basis for the development of advanced
mathematical models of the ship dynamics. The models will be
implemented in a software simulator tool.
A discussion about future views and lightweight ship
constructions is also included. In order to extend the
possibilities of coastal and inland sea transport the ships have
to meet higher transport frequency. Many connecting points are
also crucial in order to move traffic from road to sea.
The project TOHPIC
(Tools to Optimise
High Speed Craft / Port
Interface Concepts) is
partly funded by the
European Commission
under DG Research.
The aims of the project
are to
- Optimise the interface
between the High
Speed Craft (HSC) and
the Port

- Achieve faster turnaround times and less

intermediate
storage
time
- Reducing risks of
accidents
during
berthing/unberthing
operations
Improving
ship
manoeuvrability
in
ports
- Providing logistics
solutions
for
all

Page number - title of the book Vol. N N3/4 - 2002

transport on and off the

HSC
In this presentation
some results within
- Manoeuvring
- Model tests
- Software tool
- Port interface
from the TOHPIC
project
are
highlightened. More results
and other information
about the project can

D1 Intermodal transport: sea/port interface

be found on the
TOHPIC web page
addressed below.

Manoeuvring Squat effect

calculations
The
following
conclusions are drawn
from the present squat
studies:
The effects of squat
are
magnified
in
shallow water because
the water has to
increase its velocity in
order
to
squeeze
through the narrow gap
under
the
vessel.
Restrictions
in
waterway width will
further increase the
squat effects.
Blockage
effects
(the ratio between the
cross section area of
the ship to the cross
section area of the
channel) increase the
chances
of
vessel
grounding
due
to
higher sinkage and trim
of the vessel.
A prescription of a
safe dynamic underkeel clearance for
vessels operating in
shallow
waters
is
essential. On board
monitoring
of
the
dynamic
under-keel
clearance
using
accurate
sensing
devices are strongly
recommended
for
vessels operating in
restricted
shallow
water regions.

Manoeuvring Interaction
effects
calculations
Based on these studies
the
following
conclusions are drawn:
1. The studies give a
good idea about the
moored ship motion due
to the hydrodynamic
interaction induced by
the passage of another
ship in its proximity and
the consequent mooring
line forces.
2. The linear mooring
system considered here
predicts a higher force
than the interaction
force for a stiff mooring
system.
The
augmentation can be
due to the ship motion
dynamics. A further
stiffer system resulted in
a lower mooring force,
where the excursions are
expected to be small and
hence the ship motion
dynamics.
3. Based on the above
conclusion, one should
be careful when using

synthetic
ropes
for
mooring purposes. As
these ropes are less
stiff, the ship motion
dynamics
will
be
higher and hence the
mooring line forces
may go beyond the
expected level.
The
models
for
interaction effects will
be included in the
TOHPIC
simulator
tool.

Model testing
The
manoeuvring
characteristics for HSC
in shallow waters are
not well known. Since
this is very important
when docking it was
found
to
be
an
important shortage to
overcome. Therefore
manoeuvring tests have
been performed in deep
and shallow water for a
fast catamaran and for
a fast single hull and
mooring
tests
in
irregular waves for the
vessels lying along a
quay in deep and

Figure 1. Model testing in shallow water at SSPA

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D1 Intermodal transport: sea/port interface

shallow water. Two
physical models have
been prepared for the
model tests at SSPA,
one representing a 103
m long catamaran and
the other a 96 m long
mono
hull.
Both
vessels are designed for
speeds around 40 knots
and they are both
supplied with two
water jet units.
Since the intended
simulation tool to be
developed
in
the
project,
will
concentrate on ship
operations close to and
in different ports, the
manoeuvring
model
test have been focused
on manoeuvring at low
speeds. The tests have
also comprised turning
circles and zig zag
manoeuvres.
One
important
aspect
concerning
the
turnaround time in the
port is the docking
manoeuvre,
which
normally depends on
the prevailing weather
conditions. In order to
be able to model
different scenarios in a
better way, extensive
tests of the models
along the quay have
been carried out.

models of the ship

dynamics. The models
developed have been
significantly improved,
compared to previous
HSC models, in three
main areas:
- Shallow water
influence
on
manoeuvring
characteristics
- Shallow water
influence
on
resistance
characteristics
- Interaction
effects between
ship and quays
(fenders)
Work has also been
done to develop a
seakeeping model for
the catamaran. The
requirement in the
project is to simulate
both ship types in all
six degrees of freedom,
i. e. to represent
manoeuvring in both
calm water and in
waves. So far the
program is to cope with
this only for mono
hulls. Thus the model
is being extended to
cover
this
the
catamaran case also.
The
mathematical

models
will
be
implemented in the
TOHPIC
simulator
tool.

TOHPIC
Simulator tool
The software tool
developed in TOHPIC
is a ship manoeuvring
simulator
where
different interfaces and
port
layouts
are
implemented.
Scenarios of proposed
improvements
and
design ideas will be
simulated by use of
visual ship
and
mathematical models.
The tool will be used to
optimise circumstances
for a port and a ship
with respect to its
special conditions.
The methodology and
functionality will be
tested in three case
studies: Port of Dublin,
Nice and Barcelona.
The three scenario case
studies have been
visualised and the first
versions
of
the
software tool have been
tested by consortium
end-users.

Figure 2. Ship manoeuvring simulator (SINDEL)

S h ip
mathematical
models
The tests will serve as a
basis
for
the
development of two
advance mathematical

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D1 Intermodal transport: sea/port interface

Figure 3. Dun Laoghaire terminal (STENA LINE)

TOHPIC
project
information

Port Interface
Stena Line has a very
advanced High Speed
Craft terminal in Dun
Laoghaire that in many
respects forms a base
in the TOHPIC studies.
The
terminal
is
specialised for HSC
and are leading with
respect to
Safety aspects
Passengers facilities
Short turn around
time (only about 20
minutes for the
complete turn around)
Efficient mooring
device
Efficient flow of
vehicles
In order to develop
general solutions a
toolbox has been
accomplished.
The
toolbox will enable the
port to develop generic
berth constructions.
A matrix with different
types and limitations of
the present equipment
has been produced and
a survey of ships to
identify the variations

in positions of doors,
bollards and other
limiting measures has
been done. Ship-Shore
interface
equipment
has been designed and
standards that fit a
large number of ship
types are defined. The
next step in the
TOHPIC project is the
optimisation of the
physical
flow
of
objects, the terminal
layout and the general
port infrastructure as
Mooring/Unmooring,
Refuelling, Catering,
Loading/
Unloading
and logistics flow. A
high-lightened result is
the importance of
separating
foot
passengers transfer and
goods flow in order to
reduce accidents.
It is worthwhile to
point out that the
benefits gained by the
proposed
solutions
have to be compared
with the costs for their
implementation.

Page number - title of the book Vol. N N3/4 - 2002

Information about the

TOHPIC project can be
found on the Web sites
http://www.amrie.org/
tohpic/
http://www.sspa.se/
research/tohpic/
Articles in magazines
presenting the TOHPIC
project can be found
in
Lloyds List May 31,
2001,
Fast Ferry International
July-August 2001, Vol
40 No 6 and
Cruise & Ferry Info
Oct 2001, No 10.
A brochure can be
downloaded from the
AMRIE/TOHPIC web
site. Presentations of
the project have been
done at the AMRIE
10th
High
Level
Conference,
29-30
November
2001,
Brussels and at the
18th
Fast
Ferry
Conference
&
Exhibition,
26-28
February 2002, Nice.

Future views
We will now switch to
more general views out
of the scope of the
TOHPIC project. A
statement that is very
well established is that
big ships effectively
handle big transport
volumes and weight. In
this case sea transport

D1 Intermodal transport: sea/port interface

Crude Oil Carriers
(VLCC) has the lowest
gram / tonne-km and
aeroplanes the highest.
The
aeroplanes
represent
also
the
highest
speed.
In
between trucks and
freight trains can be
found. The vertical line
at about 15 knots (28
km/h) displays the fact
that going from larger
to
smaller
ships
implicates higher gram
/ tonne-km. Expressed

is very successful. On
the other side how can
the possibilities of
coastal and inland sea
transports be extended?
This will often be in
combination with other
transport modes but
also in competition.
We believe that in this
case the actors have to
meet two fundamental
transport needs that
are: higher transport
frequencies and many
connecting points.

Figure 4. Fuel/weight-distance versus speed for various vessels

Gram / tonne- km

DC 10-30

100

Truck

75 metre
RORO

1.
Use
smaller
transport
units

feeders that can meet

the need of high
transport frequency and
the possibility to reach
many
connecting
points / ports.
2. Use lightweight
sea-trucks to reduce
own weight and hence
the fuel consumption to
get lower cost per
tonne-km.

1000
High speed
craft

condition is to build
lightweight
ship
constructions.
Our answers to the
question of how to
improve coastal and
inland ship transport
market share are:

Freight train

10

3. Design the seatrucks especially for

easy
loading
and
unloading.

135 metre RORO

1
340 metre VLCC

0
10

100

1000

Km / hour

in another way we may

say that small ships
have relatively high
unloaded weight with
low cargo capacity per
displacement. One way
of
enhancing
this

A fuel consumption /
performance
comparison
between
different
transport
modes are shown in
Fig. 4. Very Large

4.
Develop
an
intermodal
port
where sea meets road
and rail on one flat
surface.
5. Direct the seatrucks on demand
basis from a centralised

Figure 5. A sea-truck example: Single hull in composite material

00

10

20

30

40

50

60

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D1 Intermodal transport: sea/port interface

intermodal
centre.

infrastructure costs are

taken and the usage
degree of the railway
tracks are 33 % (which
is high).
Using sea-trucks it is
possible to reach a
higher service level
than what todays
bigger ships can offer.
This is reached to a
higher price per tonnekm compared to the
bigger
ships
but
significantly cheaper
than what the road can
offer.
To summarise the gains
using
sea-trucks
compared
to
road
trucks it is possible to
achieve
- reduced
transportation cost
- improved mobility on
the roads due to less
congestion
- less accidents
- less pollution.
In order to reach the
last
two
points
environmental
and
safety aspects have to
be included at an early
stage in the design

control

To be time and cost

efficient all cargo shall
be reachable in every
port. The loading of
many different cargo
units shall be fast and
simple. Preferably the
units shall be reachable
one by one and the
same units shall be
possible to use on rail
and road as well as on
larger ships. Standard
containers are shown in
the example in Fig. 5
above. The design of
the ship/shore interface
as well as infrastructure
in the intermodal port
is very essential to
form a sustainable
concept.
Rough figures of the
transportation costs per
tonne-km are presented
in Fig. 6, for the
different
transport
modes. (Kr = Swedish
kronor). The column
for the train shows the
data
when
the

process of the seatrucks as well as the

intermodal port.
About the author: Peter
Grundevik is Project Manager at
SSPA Sweden AB in Gteborg
since 1997. He received his
PhD in Physics in 1982 at the
University of Gteborg /
Chalmers University of
Technology. He has been
working at the companies
Ericsson Radio Systems, Waves
and Dyning with telematics,
communication and sensor
technologies as well as
management. He is engaged as
an expert and lecturer in AIS
(Automatic Identification
System or transponder)
techniques. He is co-ordinating
the EC project TOHPIC (EC 5th
Framework Project supported by
DG Research) including 16
European partners. He is SSPA
project manager of the EC
projects DOLPHINS, E-MAR
and WINGS-FOR-SHIPS.

Figure 6. Transportation costs for different transport modes

Kr / tonne- km
2,5
Taxes and fees
2,0

Infrastructure
Capital & maintenance

1,5
1,0

33 %

Fuel

Saving
70 %

50 %

Crew cost

100%

0,5
0,0

RoRo 5000

Seatruck 200

Train 500 ton

Truck 10 ton

Page number - title of the book Vol. N N3/4 - 2002