Ship-to-Ship Vehicle Transfer Test
A test article ship-to-ship vehicle transfer system from Cargotec is on its way to the US Navy; the test article uses MacGregor-based technology and can transfer US Marine Corps vehicles and personnel from a large medium-speed RO/RO to a mobile landing platform in sea state 3.
As part of a development project Cargotec is delivering a test article ship-to-ship vehicle transfer system to the US Navy using MacGregor-based technology. The test article vehicle transfer system (TAVTS) has been built as part of the US Navy’s ‘Sea Base’ plan to support Army and Marine Corps land forces.
The two primary components of the transfer system are a self-deploying ramp that will be mounted to the float-on/float-off ship, Mighty Servant 3, and a self-deploying sideport platform system fitted to the large medium-speed roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) (LMSR) ship, USNS Soderman.
Installation of the ramp system on Mighty Servant 3 will simulate the basic configuration envisioned for the future mobile landing platform (MLP). The surrogate MLP will be fitted with a dynamic positioning (DP) system that will allow it to hold a specified position and orientation alongside the LMSR while underway, within a defined tolerance.