5 ms·

Green idea: One could skip the bow and replace it with CCTV HD cameras and keep the crew in ground level on the middle of the ship where it will be least rocky.

by acd 10y ago

Green idea: One could skip the bow and replace it with CCTV HD cameras and keep the crew in ground level on the middle of the ship where it will be least rocky. Shouldnt that reduce air drag even more? Something similar with CCTV has been done for remote air traffic control towers. http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a20075/saab-remote-air-traffic/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a20075/saab-remote-ai... Also add superhydrophobic coating and or supercavitation to reduce the water drag. That should be able to reduct fuel consumption even more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercavitation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercavitation http://www.gizmag.com/ghost-super-cavitating-military-boat/21137/ http://www.gizmag.com/ghost-super-cavitating-military-boat/2... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhydrophobic_coating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhydrophobic_coating https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/superhydrophobic-metals-85592/ https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/superhydrophobic-metals...

madaxe_again 10y ago
Go a step further, make the ship autonomous, run them in flotillas and have an engineer or two between the whole lot for any mechanical issues. they could have luxurious staterooms, given that you'd need only a few crew for a dozen ships.
- protomyth 10y ago
  Rolls-Royce is really pushing the fully automated ships http://www.rolls-royce.com/media/press-releases/yr-2016/pr-2016-03-22-rr-reveals-future-shore-control-centre.aspx http://www.rolls-royce.com/media/press-releases/yr-2016/pr-2...
  - drcross 10y ago
    This screams of PR vaporware.
    - protomyth 10y ago
      That is a PR release but it is far from vaporware. They have been working on the systems, procedures, and logistics for years. You might want to look into their progress and the industry coverage.
- jimjimjim 10y ago
  pirates
  - pedalpete 10y ago
    If the ship is completely controlled by remote, and the goods on board are essentially immobile (are they going to be able to get cars off the ship on the high-seas), what can a pirate do? They can hop a lift to the nearest port. Also, being 'remote' doesn't have to mean 'unprotected'.
    - vacri 10y ago
      Destroy the uplink to the CNC node for the ship?
      - dogma1138 10y ago
        The Pirates ransom the crew they can't do anything to the ship or the cargo they have no where to offload it.
        andyjdavis 10y ago
        I suspect there would be enough of value that could be stripped off the ship and removed to make it worth the pirate's time. Bear in mind that it doesn't matter to pirates if they cause millions of dollars of damage to extract a small fraction of that for themselves. Cripple a hugely valuable ship and destroy much of its equipment and cargo to extract a few hundred thousand dollars worth of stuff that you can take with you? Sounds like a reasonable deal for a group of pirates. Hell, they might as well try and sink the ship once they are done with it to make it hard to gather evidence and determine exactly what was stolen. It would take some time for people to do the math to determine what components of ships and common cargo have the highest value Vs their portability but someone would figure it out eventually.
        dogma1138 10y ago
        Sink it with what? they attack it with fishing boats and AK47's you'll need a literal ton of explosives to sink on of those ships. They can't offload the containers and other than the money in the captain's vault there is nothing of value other than the propane tanks in the galley (that and the med bay is the only thing they raid).
- yardie 10y ago
  Majority are down to a dozen crew members. Organised into 2-3 watches over a 24 hour period. And the kitchen (galley) crew who feed the crew. And at sea things are literally breaking all the time. Ships require ongoing maintenance, as in someone walking around tightening, checking for rust, repairing. Finally, SOLAS rules requires someone to be on watch and manning the radio. Though this I'm pretty sure is ignored by some. I've hailed a few cargo ships and never got a response.
leoedin 10y ago
Presumably as this is a container ship the height of the ship when it's fully loaded will be much higher than in the picture. The bow essentially acts as an aerodynamic nose cone to the container stack.
jloughry 10y ago
Reliability and fail-safe are important considerations at sea. Glass windows still work when electrical power is lost. Warships take the concept further, placing the navigation bridge where it's most effective but having a completely redundant alternate control centre deep inside the ship where it's best protected.
hammock 10y ago
CCTV is a 2D image of a 3D environment. You'd miss out on the depth perception, not to mention reflective and transparent effects of the water's surface. And probably other things I am missing. This is a ship many hundreds of feet long carrying up to billions of dollars in goods. As a pilot I would not want to not have a real view of where I was going. AUGMENT my real view with radar screens, depthfinder etc and now we are talking. Another alternative could be a movable bridge that somehow retracts when the ship is cruising but moves back into position when coming into port.

by acd 10y ago

madaxe_again 10y ago

Go a step further, make the ship autonomous, run them in flotillas and have an engineer or two between the whole lot for any mechanical issues. they could have luxurious staterooms, given that you'd need only a few crew for a dozen ships.

protomyth 10y ago
Rolls-Royce is really pushing the fully automated ships http://www.rolls-royce.com/media/press-releases/yr-2016/pr-2016-03-22-rr-reveals-future-shore-control-centre.aspx http://www.rolls-royce.com/media/press-releases/yr-2016/pr-2...
- drcross 10y ago
  This screams of PR vaporware.
  - protomyth 10y ago
    That is a PR release but it is far from vaporware. They have been working on the systems, procedures, and logistics for years. You might want to look into their progress and the industry coverage.
jimjimjim 10y ago
pirates
- pedalpete 10y ago
  If the ship is completely controlled by remote, and the goods on board are essentially immobile (are they going to be able to get cars off the ship on the high-seas), what can a pirate do? They can hop a lift to the nearest port. Also, being 'remote' doesn't have to mean 'unprotected'.
  - vacri 10y ago
    Destroy the uplink to the CNC node for the ship?
    - dogma1138 10y ago
      The Pirates ransom the crew they can't do anything to the ship or the cargo they have no where to offload it.
      - andyjdavis 10y ago
        I suspect there would be enough of value that could be stripped off the ship and removed to make it worth the pirate's time. Bear in mind that it doesn't matter to pirates if they cause millions of dollars of damage to extract a small fraction of that for themselves. Cripple a hugely valuable ship and destroy much of its equipment and cargo to extract a few hundred thousand dollars worth of stuff that you can take with you? Sounds like a reasonable deal for a group of pirates. Hell, they might as well try and sink the ship once they are done with it to make it hard to gather evidence and determine exactly what was stolen. It would take some time for people to do the math to determine what components of ships and common cargo have the highest value Vs their portability but someone would figure it out eventually.
        dogma1138 10y ago
        Sink it with what? they attack it with fishing boats and AK47's you'll need a literal ton of explosives to sink on of those ships. They can't offload the containers and other than the money in the captain's vault there is nothing of value other than the propane tanks in the galley (that and the med bay is the only thing they raid).
yardie 10y ago
Majority are down to a dozen crew members. Organised into 2-3 watches over a 24 hour period. And the kitchen (galley) crew who feed the crew. And at sea things are literally breaking all the time. Ships require ongoing maintenance, as in someone walking around tightening, checking for rust, repairing. Finally, SOLAS rules requires someone to be on watch and manning the radio. Though this I'm pretty sure is ignored by some. I've hailed a few cargo ships and never got a response.

leoedin 10y ago

Presumably as this is a container ship the height of the ship when it's fully loaded will be much higher than in the picture. The bow essentially acts as an aerodynamic nose cone to the container stack.

jloughry 10y ago

Reliability and fail-safe are important considerations at sea. Glass windows still work when electrical power is lost. Warships take the concept further, placing the navigation bridge where it's most effective but having a completely redundant alternate control centre deep inside the ship where it's best protected.

hammock 10y ago

CCTV is a 2D image of a 3D environment. You'd miss out on the depth perception, not to mention reflective and transparent effects of the water's surface. And probably other things I am missing. This is a ship many hundreds of feet long carrying up to billions of dollars in goods. As a pilot I would not want to not have a real view of where I was going. AUGMENT my real view with radar screens, depthfinder etc and now we are talking. Another alternative could be a movable bridge that somehow retracts when the ship is cruising but moves back into position when coming into port.