When I thought about further containerization, the concept of unicontainerization raised in my mind. Since economy of scale of ship size increasing, there is a need for further containerization is important. There is lack of synchronized thinking between ship owners , ship manufacturers and the harbor. In Triple E class , there is a specific policy for maersk regarding total number of lifts in the port. Say if it is minimum 2000 lifts , then the vessel will call the port. So there is a need for further containerization.
For this reason I have designed a concept of unicontainerisation ie., it can pick up 150 TEU in a single lift. An unicontainer is a steel web frame capable of carrying 150 teu with a matrix of 6x5x5 ( row x column x depth ) which in turn forms a giant single container. The hold itself will act as a cellular guide with dimension 30.5 x 15 meter to hold a unicontainer frame .There will be total 12 x 3 = 36 holds ie., 12 rows and 3 columns ( 3 holds- port , midship & starboard ).For the dimensions of hold and ship , please refer to the diagram above. The mechanism for unicontainer will remain the same with twist locks and loading with crane. But everything will be with relative to the dimension and weight of the unicontainer frame.
In each hold there will be 4 Unicontainer ie., 600 TEU. So if there is 36 holds , 36 x 600 teu = 21600 TEU. There will be only 144 lifts to load a fully empty ship. The thing which is of concern about this idea is SWL of the crane , sorting out facility ( Requires huge area to sort out for loading , unloading and moving unicontainer frame). Such transformation will take long time to achieve. But what I would like to emphasize is synchronized thinking is very important in future to achieve maximum efficiency in the future.When there is hand in hand synchronized thinking between port and the ship , the ship , port equipments and harbor facility can be designed simultaneously for the port of call which the ship visits. Later the concepts can be adopted by other parts of the world.
Lots of research should be carried out for this model like economic , operation , infrastructure , geography , political etc., If I have some ideas arising from my mind , I have been very bold to express it. It is for the only reason that it may be a root cause or a initiative for other ideas.
Deepak sekar 