This undergraduate thesis includes description of pros and cons of Ro-Ro ship from financial aspects, aspects of safety, stability and equipment.
As every other thing these ships have many shortcomings as well as advantages. Many organisations are trying to fix the problems and issues but some of them are not that easy or able to change. One of the greatest pros is surely low cost of transport, because this kind of ship accept a vast number of vehicles at the same time. Big advantage is environmental effect; because they pollute a lot less than if all the vehicles were transported via road. Ship does not need advanced loading equipment because she has a loading ramp that vehicles use to board the ship. Because of this, she needs very short operative coast and she does not need stowage place on the shore, because vehicles can leave using the road or railroad. There are many different types of Ro-Ro ships and each has different special features and special purpose, for fulfilling requirements. We can transport only cars (PCC), cars and trucks (PCTC) and also special freight (containers, lumber…) or even passengers besides wheeled cargo.
Main weakness of Ro-Ro ship is her high freeboard and cargo, loaded on higher decks, because it compromises her stability. She is sensitive even for the small movements of cargo that is not secured enough. Weather like rough sea and wild wind can also endanger her stability. Ramps and doors help maintaining water impermeability, but inside the ship, there are no transverse fixed bulkheads to retain the water intake on one place. If there is a breach in the hull, water can get in the ship and covers the whole deck. After that, ship rapidly starts to list and she is already doomed to capsize. Another weakness is spatial incompleteness, because there is a lot of unused space between, under and above the vehicles, since we cannot stack the cargo. Some space is also taken by inner ramps and lifts, which halves cargo capacity.
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