Inland transport of containers from tomorrow's giant ships - problems

摘要

Naval architects designing tomorrow's new-generation container liners may also like to consider the shoreside implications of their new leviathans, argues U K Gerry, MRINA.rnON one hand, container traffic involves worldwide maritime movement and on the other land transport with all its diverse local problems. With shipbuilders, owners, and classification societies now planning 10,000TEU and even 18,000TEU vessels (typically as discussed in The Naval Architect October 2000, page 3, but also elsewhere in this current issue), land transport becomes a pressing issue. This is particularly so, since the time-scale needed to provide a shore infrastructure capable of distributing such large volumes of cargo may well exceed the time scale needed to bring such ships into service.