Innovation
High-Speed Innovative
Containership To Be
Designed By Japanese
Key To Fast Ship Design
May Be Submerged Cylinders
An $11 million project to de-sign a small containership that will travel 55 miles an hour
and carry 1,000 tons of cargo is
being carried out by the Japa-
nese Government and several
Japanese shipyards.
Known as Techno-Superliner,
the high-speed cargo ship could
carry 10 times as much cargo as
a Boeing 747, yet travel between
Tokyo and Hong Kong or Shang-
hai in less than a day, Japanese
shipyard executives say. That trip
takes ocean freight three or four
days.
A consortium of seven Japa-
nese shipyards working with
Japan's Transport Ministry, the
Technological Research Associa-
tion for the Techno-Superliner,
said the new ship will have a
range of about 600 miles. That
would make it possible for the
vessel to reach Asian industrial
centers in South Korea, Taiwan
and China.
The research association said
shipbuilders believe there will be
strong demand for a high-speed
containership capable of work-
ing the intra-Asia market, in part
because of the rapidly growing
demand for express delivery of
small and light cargo.
Hie group said in a background
report, "In Japan, where indus-
trial and economic structures
have changed rapidly, improve-
ment of the transportation sys-
tem is needed to cope with the
sizable increment in the volume
of trade between Japan and the
newly industrialized economies
of Asia. An ultra-high-speed ves-
sel like the Techno-Superliner,
which is halfway between a con-
tainership and air freighter, is
being sought."
The superliner could carry
more cargo than a plane but move
it more quickly than a ship, just
as sea-air cargo uses a mix of
ocean and air shipping to cut ocean
shipments in half at half the cost
of all-air shipment, the associa-
tion said.
The group expects to spend
$11 million by the end of 1993 to
prove out the technologies re-
quired in such a ship. The ship-
builders estimate that it would
cost about $100 million—about
30 percent less that the cost of a
new 747 air freighter—to build
the ship.
Japanese researchers are
evaluating whether their envi-
sioned high-speed containership
should ride on a cushion of air
like those used by large hover-
craft, or be suspended above the
water on a pair of submerged
cylinders.
Managing director for the re-
search association Kazuo Sugai
said early exploration of the hov-
ercraft idea has shown potential
problems with damage to rubber
skirts used to contain the air
cushion when moving through
rough seas.
As a result, Mr. Sugai told
Japanese Government officials,
the yards are concentrating on
designs that use high-stability
submerged cylinders. The U.S.
Navy pioneered the submerged
hull concept, known as small-wa-
terplane area, twin hull, or swath,
for use in producing a better
antisubmarine platform.
To power the Techno-Super-
liner, Japanese designers hope to
adapt gas turbine engines built
for aviation use. One proposal
calls for use of four 25,000-hp
engines to suck in seawater and
fire it out of a series of submerged
nozzles.
Either General Electric Co. or
Rolls Royce may be asked to help
on the engines, the association
said.
Other shipyard engineers,
however, are trying to find light-
weight materials durable enough
to stand the pounding of moving
across the ocean at a speed of 50
knots or more.
A mix of titanium, aluminum
alloys, high-strength plastics and
carbon composites probably will
be used.
The designers envision the
superliner with slots for up to
150 twenty-foot ocean contain-
ers, though the ship could also
carry air containers or automo-
biles. On shorter trips between
Japanese cities, maximum cargo
loads could be greater than on
international runs.
Major Japanese shipbuilders
taking part in the project include
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.,
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.,
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuild-
ing Co., NKK Corp., Sumitomo
Heavy Industries Ltd., Hitachi
Zosen Corp., and Ishikawajima-
Harima Heavy Industries Co.
18 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
Digital Wave Publishing