1. Seatrains for the Marine Highway:
The Spectrum of Configurations, Operations
and Performance
William A. Hockberger
Independent Consultant
Marine Systems Planning
Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting
Session 381: New Technologies for the Marine Highway
14 January 2013 – Washington, DC

2. Outline
• The train idea is widely applied
• Used on inland waterways
• Would work on coastal marine highways too
• Large ship capability with small ship virtues
• Part of solution of coastal freight problems
• Technology feasible and available
• Total-system simulation & business case analysis
• Highly beneficial for many aspects of economy

3. Here’s the general idea:
a ship composed of segments that can be
added on or dropped off as necessary.

4. Early
trains

5. Modern railroad trains

6. Truck
trains

7. So what does a train do for us?
• Power/crew unit + unmanned cargo units
• Acquire units as needed
• Assemble only units required
• Mix & match unit types and cargoes
• Any unit from/to anywhere on the network
• Don’t transload cargo, just reconnect unit
• Individualized unit maintenance & repair
• Most problems affect units, not whole train
• Load/unload each unit where convenient
• Load/unload each unit on own schedule
• Units can serve as temporary storage

8. The train idea works on water too
• Most tons moved relative to power applied
• Barge trains evolved
• But ... on protected inland waters so far

9. What about
unprotected coastal waters?
Our coastal marine highways are where
– Major ports are
– Ocean freight must be transshipped
– Highway relief is most needed
– Cargoes must move faster
We need trains there too

10. Open waters are
challenging, barge trains are
• Waves can move hullsavoided
wildly
causing great damage & loss
• Single big barge preferred
• If towed, barge must be well
separated from tug
• Barges increasingly pushed –
less power, better control

11. • Operable in open ocean – tug
Articulated locked in place in a notch
tug/barge (ATB) • Numerous train-like attributes
– good starting basis for a
coastal freight seatrain

12. Our evolving
marine freight transport system
• Steadily rising ocean trade
• Steadily larger ships, fewer ports able to receive them
• Growing need to distribute freight from ports
• Growing freight movement of domestic origin
• Rapidly worsening highway congestion
• Much talk about using marine highways, but studies
keep showing they aren’t competitive
Time for a different approach:
• Seatrains could in effect provide many more ships (units)
of smaller size capable of accessing many more ports

13. We have those ports
• Present ports too few
and far between
• Drayage & trucking
add greatly to cost
• Large ports slow and
costly
• Seatrains could bypass
them to serve many
smaller locations near
freight destinations
• Worldportsource says
531 ports in US
• Other business &
industry locations also
possible
http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/USA.php

14. http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/USA.php

15. Seatrain characteristics
• Power and crew in a tug/pusher unit
• A number of unmanned cargo units
• Reduced draft, beam, unit length
• Reduced structure weight due to joints
• Reduced power & fuel
At the cost of:
• Joints and connectors
• Ballasting system in units
• Way to propel units when separate
• Reduced maneuverability when long

16. Seatrain technology
• Builds on ATB technology & experience
– Connectors
– Operations
• All basic ship types/configurations –
monohull, catamaran, trimaran, SES, hovercraft,
etc.
• Any desired size, speed
At this point:
• No off-the-shelf designs ready to build
• Conceptual designs ready for trade-offs, model
testing, design & engineering

17. Seasnake (by Seasnake LLC)
• Extensively engineered &
model tested
• Flexible for turning
• Semicircular cross-section
• Intended as tanker (slow)
but suitable for other uses
Power ( a general phenomenon )
per
ton
Ship size/length Propulsor

18. SeaTrain SES (surface effect ship)
by Keck Technologies LLC
• High-speed design for
• High-value time-sensitive goods
• Time-definite delivery
• Catamaran side hulls + air seals at ends, rises on cushion
for 35-55 kts (well-developed technology)
• Conventional materials & systems, Intercon ATB connectors

19. 4,000 tons Ro-Ro cargo
SeaTrain SES 5,000 nm at 43 kts in Seastate 4
High-Speed SeaLift 16 ft draft off-cushion
6 ft draft on-cushion

20. Connecting complete ships
• Small ships linked to get big-
ship powering & seakeeping
when transiting
• Multiple systems & crews
Concept by Maritime Applied Physics Corp.

21. The British ship “Connector ”
built by the Jointed Ship Company in 1858
From the Illustrated London News, August 1863

22. Seatrain benefits
• A huge range of locations become accessible
• Smaller local land-side impacts
• Reduced crew in power unit, none in cargo units
• Buildable in more, smaller, lower-cost yards
• All total-system operational benefits of trains
• Adapt existing fleet operations management systems
• Reduced construction of highways, bridges, tunnels

23. To Albany
Seatrains in
New York
Harbor

24. Deciding about a seatrain
• Every transport service is unique; but seatrains
offer adaptability to match a broad range of service
requirements
• A total-system, long-term matter, not one seatrain
vs. one conventional ship for one unique service
• Need to model and simulate the whole system
(including related land systems) across many uses
over many years
• Long-term company profitability is the metric

25. Conclusions
• The train approach is widely applied
• Seatrains can be a
practical, efficient, economical coastal marine
highways solution
• Technology is feasible & available
• Seatrains would be highly beneficial overall for
• Transportation system
• Business & economy
• US marine industry