Roll-On/Roll-Off (RO/RO) Merchant Vessel Offloading Facility Tests with the Calm Water Ramp (CWR) (COTS (Container Offloading and Transfer System) CNO Project 299, DT-IM-2)

摘要

The United States has long included merchant ships in plans to support Navy Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Follow-on Echelon (AFOE) and Army Logistics Over-the-Shore (LOTS) operations. The shifts toward port-dependent cargo ships has given rise to the investigation of other methods/facilities to offload cargo without getting into development of complex harbor facilities similar to those used commercially. The tests with the calm water ramp (CWR) demonstrate, in part, the viability of using the ramp to offload nonself-sustaining roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) ships in an offshore setting. Due to the unavailability of a nonself-sustaining RO/RO ship, all tests were designed to correspond and reproduce actual operating parameters. The ramp was raised through the extremes of its operating range and several representative military vehicles were driven up an included section of the CWR. The Causeway Platform Facility (CPF) was configured for ramp operations and moored alongside the merchant ship SS AMERICAN TROJAN where simulated vehicle offloadings from Causeway Ferries and Landing Crafts Utility (LCUs) were conducted. Based on these tests, the CWR and the CPF have demonstrated that can operate effectively to satisfy all of their design requirements.