Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave
So is it possible to move such a load?
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Alex,
Firstly - welcome back!
In answer to your question, the answer is yes, these loads can be moved, but the logistical planning is huge. It is done routinely in the heavy construction sector, particularly for large oil / gas / mining plants in remote parts of the world, where the cost of site labour is very high.
The largest module-move project I have ever been involved with was about 12 years ago, for an oil project in northern Siberia, 600 km from the Arctic coast. We designed and built a module with an all-up mass of 8,000 tonnes. The module was landed at a purpose-built port in the summer, when the harbour was not frozen over. We then waited until winter, when the ground would freeze to be strong enough to carry the enormous loads, so we could haul it over the frozen ground to the site. The 600 km trip took several weeks. We then left the site and waited until summer for final fit-out and commissioning - because nobody could work outdoors in winter. It took a a bit over a year from landing the module to getting it operational, but about 8 months would have been idle time, waiting for the seasons to change.
As an engineering challenge - your mega-container ship is a fantastic idea. As a solution to global transport - I have my doubts.
Container transport is a remarkably efficient means of moving general cargo around the world. Getting the existing 20' and 40' containers on and off the ships is the easy part. The cranes are very fast, and they have fast shuttle vehicles to take to containers between the cranes and the container stacks, so a modern large container ship typically only spends a day or so in each port that it picks up and drops off cargo.
E.g. check out this site for the Port of Brisbane
https://qships.tmr.qld.gov.au/webx/ , and then filter down to look at arrival and departure times for container ships, such as:
Laust Maersk (63,000 DWT) arriving 1 July between 00:01 - 03:30; departing between 23:00 - 02:30 (01 / 02 July)
ANL Wahroonga (68,000 DWT) arriving 1 July between 01:12 - 04:48; departing 2 July between 05:00 - 08:30