STABILIZATION OF THE SHIP/LIGHTER INTERFACE

THE PROPOSED WORK TO ESTABLISH ONE OR MORE TECHNIQUES FOR OFFLOADING CONTAINERS AND BREAK-BULK IN ALL TYPES OF WEATHER DURING A LOTS MISSION CONSISTS OF A REVIEW OF CONCEPTS FOR SHIP STABILIZATION, LIGHTER STABILIZATION AND LOAD STABILIZATION AS INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMS AND AS MEMBERS OF COMBINED SYSTEMS. A NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVE STABILIZATION, LOAD TRANSFER AND LOAD CONTROL SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AND BRIEFLY DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL UNDER CATEGORIES OF PASSIVE AND ACTIVE ROLL STABILIZATION, LIGHTER-TO-SHIP STABILIZATION, SHIP-TO-SHIP STABILIZATION, COMPUTER-AIDED CRANE SYSTEMS, TRACKED CARGO-TRANSFER SYSTEMS AND CABLE STABILIZED SYSTEMS. A SELECTION OF THESE, INCLUDING COMBINED SYSTEMS, WILL BE MADE WITH ARMY PARTICIPATION AND WILL BE EVALUATED TO DETERMINE PERFORMANCE, SAFETY, ADAPTABILITY, PENDULATION, SPOTTING, APPROACH CONTROL, INSTALLATION, SET-UP, SPACE, WEIGHT, MANPOWER, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS, AND COSTS. FOLLOWING THIS, A FINAL SELECTION WILL BE MADE OF THE BEST ALL-AROUND SYSTEM FOR EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION IN PHASE II, USING A DYNAMICALLY CORRECT SCALE MODEL, SIMULATED SHIP AND LIGHTER MOTION, AND FULL SCALE CONTROL PACKAGE. PHASE III INCLUDES FULL-SCALE DEMONSTRATION OF THE SYSTEM ON A SELECTED SHIP.