The Ship Maintenance & Repair Yard at Abu-Qir, Egypt, have purchased 8 units of the PWT module transporters developed by TTS Handling Systems, together with a carriage mounted support cradle supplied by TTS partner Synchrolift.
The yard will be modernised and substantially increase its capacity for maintenance and repair – as ships now can be transported anywhere within the repair yard – using the new PWT90’s. Ships are launched and recovered via a single railway system comprised of a set of rails, carriage mounted support cradles, and an electric winch system. The total system is designed to handle ships up to 600 tons, overall length of 55m and width of 9,5m.
This ship transporter system called PWT (Powered Wheel Transporters) is a new development from TTS based on the DWB transfer system, which have been used in shipyards since 1980. The DWB system is a non-wheel transfer system that can move ship sections or complete ships weighing up to 20.000 tons around the yard without the need of rails or roads and position ship sections within mm accuracy.
Whereas the DWB system has an internal moveable and mobile rail system that can move in any direction, the PWT system is designed with rubber wheels and will therefore have a higher transport speed. The system is also equipped with the TTS fluid bed principle – allowing point loads along the hull and the ground to be minimized during transfer – as opposed to a non-fluid bed system.
Each of the PWT90 units lifts and moves 90 tons on 6 axels. They will each have their own hydraulic power pack and computer control. One operator does coordination of the system from a central control unit on a diesel electric generator following the system.
Why use the PWT system?
Compared to the big transporters on the market, the PWT transfer system is custom made for transportation of ships (or blocks) in the range 100 to 1500 tons.
The PWT units are small in area but with a very high load capacity. This gives the yard a more flexible tool for each specific job and allows for better access to the hull. The TTS fluid bed system will distribute loads to avoid any high point loads to the hull or ground.
The cradles can be standard type or tailor made for the shipyard, dependent of the keel height and docking conditions. The cradles can also be equipped with auto-hydraulic operated bilge arms for stabilizing the vessel during docking and to avoid having divers.
The yard will only use necessary number of cradles dependant of the size of the vessel. When parked in the dry berth each cradle can be moved under the vessel to give the yard 100% access to the hull.
The future
TTS have great believes in this new PWT transfer system and are expecting more orders for the system in the near future – especially in the segment mega yacht & shiprepair – vessels range 100 – 1500 tons.
For more information on PWT demo or ship, block handling & assembly systems – please contact us at :
TTS Handling Systems AS
Mr. Rolf-Atle Tomassen
Managing director
+47-918 62251
e-mail: rat@tts-hs.no
www.tts-hs.no
Please use the link below to read the article in pdf format.
TTS_HS_Abu-Qir.pdf
