Shallow-draught vessels for the Vessel Train

Abstract

The Vessel Train is a novel semi-autonomous waterborne transport concept which implies a convoy of digitally connected vessels. Only the first vessel in the Vessel Train (the so-called “lead vessel”) is fully manned, while the remaining vessels (the so-called “following vessels”) are remotely controlled from the lead vessel and thus may sail either with a reduced crew or with the crew off-duty. The Vessel Train was the subject of the research project NOVIMAR (NOVel Iwt and MARitime transport concepts), funded by the European Commission within the framework of the Horizon 2020 program. One of the tasks of the project concerned the design of novel vessels for the Vessel Train. The Vessel Train ships were designed in compliance with a specific requirement: to utilize the horizontal (Ro-Ro) container handling. Additionally, two inland vessels had to fulfil another condition: to have as low design draught as possible, so as to provide for uninterrupted navigation even during the low-water periods which tend to be extended and more extreme on all major European inland waterways. Both the Ro-Ro handling of containers and the shallow draught considerably affect the ship general arrangement, cargo stowage and handling, structural strength, intact and damage stability, etc. Thus, this paper discusses the challenges encountered in design of large inland container Ro-Ro vessels with extremely shallow draughts, intended for the use in the Vessel Train.