US FLAG COASTAL RO/RO SHIPS; APPLICATION OF CASSETTE TECHNOLOGY

THIS STUDY WILL EVALUATE THE RANGE OF SHIP SIZES AND POWER LEVELS (SPEEDS) TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM SHIP CHARACTERISTICS FOR OPERATING U.S. FLAG RO/RO SHIPS IN U.S. COASTAL SERVICE. RO/RO CARGO HANDLING TECHNIQUES PREVALENT IN EUROPE AND SCANDINAVIA WILL BE INCORPORATED AS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF THE SERIES OF SHIPS INVESTIGATED. THESE TECHNIQUES INVOLVE THE USE OF CASSETTES TO HANDLE CONTAINERS OR BREAK BULK CARGO. THE SERIES WILL BE LOGICALLY DEFINED BY INCREMENTS OF DECK AREA OF CARGO CAPACITY, AND INSTALLED POWER LEVELS WHICH CORRELATE WITH SHIP SPEED. IF POSSIBLE, OPTIMUM SHIP SIZES WILL BE IDENTIFIED FROM A REQUIRED FREIGHT RATE ANALYSIS FOR NOTIONAL ROUTES. STRATEGIC SEALIFT CAPABILITIES WILL BE IDENTIFIED.