August 23, 2001. Copyright 2001. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

Fast container jetships to shrink the world

LONDON, August 23, Graphic News: From July 2005, a new generation of jet-powered ÒFastShipsÓ could start sailing from Philadelphia to Cherbourg and back three times a week. Travelling as fast as speedboats, they will carry electronics, clothes and perishables door-to-door from the Midwest to central Europe in just seven days. ThatÕs only three days longer than the fastest air and road alternative, but some US$1,500 a tonne cheaper.

The specially designed ÒtubbyÓ ships will be powered by marine versions of Rolls-Royce Trent aircraft engines, propelling the boats at over 40 knots (46 mph, 74 km/h), compared with the 17-23 knots (19-26 mph, 31-43 km/h) achieved by orthodox container vessels. The company behind the project, FastShip Atlantic, is the furthest advanced of several businesses trying to put super-fast freighters into service.

ÒFastShip is creating a new mode of container transportation between the United States and Europe,Ó said Roland K. Bullard II, president of FastShip Atlantic. ÒWe are building a world-class transportation network that will provide the speed, reliability, frequency and cost that meets the demands of the rapidly changing world economy.Ó 

The FastShip concept dates back to the early nineties and originally the first construction orders were to have been placed in 1996. Five years and plenty of setbacks later, FastShip has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kvaerner, a European shipbuilding and engineering firm, to build the first four vessels at their Philadelphia yard a cost of $2 billion.

They will be fitted with gas-turbine aero engines, modified to drive the waterjets that will power the ships. The vesselÕs revolutionary design, by British aeronautical engineer turned ship designer David Giles, has minimised the dragging effect of water with shorter, fatter vessels, incorporating a sharp bow and a concave hull bottom. The design creates a stern wave that lifts the ships, enabling them to ÒplaneÓ along the water, even in 40 foot (12 metre) waves.

On each of the 860 foot (262 metre) craft, five marine Trent 50 engines will drive five Kamewa 325 waterjets. The waterjets -- which will be the largest in the world -- have turbines blades which spin at 200 rpm. Each jet sucks up 22,800 gallons (103,600 litres) of water per second and squirts it out at a velocity of 70 mph (112 km/h). The total flow through the five waterjets is the same as the flow of water over Niagara Falls.

The express service will jet between specially built container ports at Philadelphia in the U.S. and Cherbourg in north-west France. Once docked, the craft will use a roll-on, roll-off system to transfer containers between trains and ships. This is much faster than cranes, and the company claims it reduces turn-round time in port from 16 hours to six.

Two European companies and one American company are working on rival designs to FastShipÕs, including multi-hulled vessels. 

Some critics are concerned about the environmental impact of the big engines and others have said the new freight service will be considerably more expensive than slower conventional transport. But given the demands of a globalised, internet-speed economy, container ships might soon be whizzing around the oceans.
/ENDS
Sources: FastShip Inc., LloydÕs List, Scientific American, Reuters