WHat do you think about a vessel that is designed to discharge and load all of the containers by utilizing a shifting pallet system that does not require handling equipment in the berthing area?
What are the obstacles to such vessel design?
Turkay, could you please elaborate or give a reference on the shifting pallet system for container vessels?
Thank you.
Dear Augusto, I should have been clearer on my question.
Think of a vessel having an integrated moving pallet system for loading and unloading containers very quickly.
Here, I attached a file to try to depict this concept. I hope the figure in the file, more or less, gives you a little bit clue of this concept. Think of such automated modules placed inside a container vessel. Here, the IO station is just part of an integrated pallet system moving from inside to outside of a vessel for carrying containers.
Turkay, Thank you for the file.
As far as I can figure it out, this resembles an automated warehouse that would be fitted inside the container vessel. The platforms, horizontal and vertical, are moving platforms, right?
I am afraid I don't like the idea because it steals a lot of space from the vessel, probably a quarter to a third. This would require much larger ships for the same TEU capacity and the extra saved time at the port, even with the savings from suppressing the gantry cranes and the corresponding lower port tariffs, wouldn't compensate. Besides, existing quays would have to cope with extra size for the same cargo.
Some 3 years ago I had the idea of a "container wall" for the container yard, to replace the stacking/unstacking of containers with a system that is no more than a simple structure where containers are fitted to by using the corner casting twistlocks. There would be containers on both sides of the wall and a pathway between walls for trailers - a street. A loaded trailer would enter the street and a moving crane on top of the wall would pick the container and fit it to a slot on the wall. To pick up the container, the inverse operation is performed. No stacking/unstacking and no gantries in the yard. Some details are still not solved, but one of these days I will probably look at it in a deeper way.
In fact this has similarities with your pallet system.
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