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The G4 class is a series of five combination roll-on/roll-off cargo ships (ConRO) that are operated by the
Early design work for a new ConRO design began at International Maritime Advisors, which finished the basic plans in 2008. Knud E. Hansen modified the design to ACL specifications, and in July 2012 the construction contract for five ships was awarded to Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. Construction began with steel-cutting for the first ship, at the time unnamed, in September 2013. In October 2014, ACL announced the names of the ships in the fleet, having selected them from employee suggestions.
The first ship of the class, ''Atlantic Star'', was launched in November 2014 and was planned to enter service in mid-2015, but ACL did not take delivery of the vessel until October 2015 and her maiden voyage did not occur until early 2016. The remaining four ships were delivered over the course of 2016, beginning with ''Atlantic Sail'' in April.
The entire fleet had originally been planned to enter service in 2015, but construction at the shipyard was delayed due to challenges building to the brand new design. Immediately following their entry into service, problems with the quality of major components license-built in Asia to European designs were identified, requiring drydocking of the vessels for replacement of the faulty parts.
Atlantic Container Line
Atlantic Container Line is an American, previously Swedish, shipping company owned by the Italian Grimaldi Group. The company operates large roll-on/roll-off (RORO) container ships between Europe and North America.
History
ACL was formed in St ...
(ACL) and entered service in the mid-2010s. They are named ''Atlantic Star'', ''Atlantic Sail'', ''Atlantic Sea'', ''Atlantic Sky'', and ''Atlantic Sun''.
History
Early design work for a new ConRO design began at International Maritime Advisors, which finished the basic plans in 2008. Knud E. Hansen modified the design to ACL specifications, and in July 2012 the construction contract for five ships was awarded to Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. Construction began with steel-cutting for the first ship, at the time unnamed, in September 2013. In October 2014, ACL announced the names of the ships in the fleet, having selected them from employee suggestions.
The first ship of the class, ''Atlantic Star'', was launched in November 2014 and was planned to enter service in mid-2015, but ACL did not take delivery of the vessel until October 2015 and her maiden voyage did not occur until early 2016. The remaining four ships were delivered over the course of 2016, beginning with ''Atlantic Sail'' in April.
The entire fleet had originally been planned to enter service in 2015, but construction at the shipyard was delayed due to challenges building to the brand new design. Immediately following their entry into service, problems with the quality of major components license-built in Asia to European designs were identified, requiring drydocking of the vessels for replacement of the faulty parts.
Design
The G4 class is the largest ConRO design in the world, slightly larger than the preceding 1980s-built G3 class but with significantly more cargo capacity. They are long, with a beam of and a draft of , and have agross tonnage
Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...
of 100,430 GT, with a deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, pro ...
of 55, 649 DWT. Each ship is driven by a Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...
RT-flex68D eight-cylinder low speed diesel engine with a power output of that gives a service speed of up to . There are three Wärtsilä thrusters installed for maneuvering, two at the bow and one at the stern. Shipboard power is supplied by a generator driven by the main engine, as well as four Yanmar
is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, const ...
gensets that have a total of .
There are seven decks for roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) cargo, totaling 5,270 lane meter A lane meter (or lanes in meters) is a unit of deck area in roll-on/roll-off ships, cargo vessels where containers or other cargo, including ferried vehicles, can be rolled or driven on and off. A lane meter is defined as a strip of deck one mete ...
s and of space, with a 3,807 TEU container capacity. In contrast to typical ConRO designs, which carry containers abovedecks and RoRo cargo below with the superstructure situated aft, G4 vessels carry exclusively containers at the bow through the entire depth of the hull, with RoRo garage space primarily amidships in and below the superstructure, and containers above decks at the stern, with Ro/Ro space and the machinery belowdecks. This configuration allows for greater cargo capacity, as well as lower ballast requirements. Unusually for cargo vessels, the G4 design does not include a bulbous bow
A bulbous bow is a protruding bulb at the bow (or front) of a ship just below the waterline. The bulb modifies the way the water flows around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel efficiency, and stability. Large ships w ...
, instead specifying a vertical prow that is more efficient across a wide range of cargo loads and sea conditions.
References
{{reflist Ro-ro ships Cargo ships Ships built in China