Construction of New Diesel Driven Container Ship Utilizing Structurally Renovated Midbody

Abstract

Sea-Land Service, Inc. intended replacement of their 4 "Elizabethport" class steam turbine driven container ships by new slow speed diesel engine driven vessels, in order to have bigger container carrying capacity and better fuel economy. These existing container ships had been converted from T-3 tankers in 1962 by inserting new midbodies of container hold structure and the owners planned to utilize the container hold structure as a part of new ship. "The fore and aft bodies with all necessary equipment, accommodation and machinery shall be newly built and be joined to existing midbody."……was the Owner's unique idea. This idea needed comprehensive and sophisticated capability of high potential, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Kobe Shipyard was selected to realize this unique project and developed various alternatives for construction procedure. Finally the Shipyard adopted "Short ship" idea from among them as the most realistic, reliable and economical procedure, and they attained successfully. This paper is a brief report of this unique shipbuilding work performed in the Shipyard under extensive cooperation of the Owners, United States Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping.