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April 2005 73 One of the leading lights in deep-sea RoRo transportation, Wilh. Wilhelmsen, is introducing a new class of pure car/truck carrier (PCTC) optimized to Panamax beam and within the 200-m length restriction primarily determined by Japanese loading ports. Although the nascent Wallenius breed of PCTC in hand at Daewoo will take unit capacities up to the 8,000 mark, Wilhelmsen's imposing new Torrens class from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries signals the achievement of one of the largest load factors achieved to date. The intake corresponds to about 6,500 vehi- cles on the basis of the RT43 dimension- al standard. In addition to the payload gain arising from the increase of about 10-m in hull length compared with Wilhelmsen's pre- ceding generation of PCTCs, increased carrying capacity has been realized through erudite design refinements, while maintaining the same level of hor- izontal subdivision in the form of 12 decks. One such modification has been the release of the full width of the upper- most car deck by transforming certain equipment and trunking to the weath- erdeck, allowing the car stow to be taken out fully to each side. In addition, obstructions have been minimized through a reduction in the number of pil- lars, with companion measures to ensure rigidity and strength. Four of the 12 vehicle decks are dimensioned for 'high and heavy' cargo, and incorporate liftable car decks. In addition, so as to confer added operating flexibility, the platform decks permit locking at three different heights, offer- ing increased stowage scope and permu- tations for different categories of car and other vehicles. Special scissor trucks for moving the liftable deck sections have been specified as part of the ships' com- plement of equipment. The height of the fixed car decks varies between 1.85-m and 2.30-m, to improve versatility in catering to the changing shapes and heights of modern cars, notably the new breed of sport util- ity vehicles (SUVs). Emphasizing the 'high and heavy' freight carrying attrib- utes of the design, the main deck has a maximum clearance of 5.20-m and has been strengthened for unit weights up to around 200-t, carried on special rolltrail- ers, and for a 60-t FLT (frontlift truck) axle load. Deterministic progressive flooding calculations were made by Barber Marine Consultants, to ensure that the vessels will be able to survive penetra- tion of the shell in way of the main deck. Torrens and second-of-class Toledo Circle 279 on Reader Service Card Circle 274 on Reader Service Card Investment in Design Multi-Story Carrier Already a PCTC leader, Wilh Wilhelmsen recently introduced a new class of PCTC … the imposing new Torrens class, with one of the largest load factors achieved to date. MR APRIL 2005 #10 (73-80).qxd 4/5/2005 9:15 AM Page 1
