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nary type but so arranged that cars can be carried in the hold and on the ’tween deck as well as on the upper deck. ‘The metacentric height of the present type of carferry is about ten feet while the SEATRAIN has a metacentric height loaded of only two feet making her a “much easier boat in a seaway. The ship- shape hull also makes her a _ better sea boat. Loaded freight cars will be carried on three decks instead of in the usual manner on one deck only. Each deck is fitted with four tracks. Cars Lifted In and Out As the cars cannot be run directly on the vessel especially designed cranes, aS mentioned above, fitted on the docks at both terminals are used to load and unload freight cars from the vessel at practically the same time. The loaded freight car is shunted on a cradle fitted with tracks. The crane lifts the cradle with the car upon it up over the vessel’s sides and lowers it into the hold. A mechanical car puller removes the car from the cradle into the hold on tracks. While the cradle is still in place a car intended for unloading is placed upon it by the mechanical puller. This car is then lifted in the cradle from the hold of the ship and placed upon the dock where it is removed from the cradle and an- other car intended for loading takes its the vessel. place and is in turn placed on board After one track in the ship’s hold has been emptied of cars for delivery and filled with cars for shipment, the crane is shifted to lower the cradle over the next track and the process is repeated. When one deck has been filled, the cradles, fit- ting the hatchway, act as_ hatch strongbacks and each hold a car while the vessel is in transit. There are no switches in the hold of the ship. There is of course, a great propor- tion of lost space in a vessel the type of the SEATRAIN but the sav- ing in handling time, the elimination of labor cost and the quick turn- around of the ship more than makes up this difference. In addition cer- tain kinds of commodities which can- not be handled or transported over- seas with profit by any other means will find a definite place in the opera- tion of a vessel of this type, with profit to the operator. As every shipping man knows wa- ter transportation costs can be di- vided into two major parts; terminal expense and vessel expense. It is fair to say that the cost of receiving, — checking, weighing and handling of cargo at terminals together with the maintenance of covered terminals, and the loading and discharging of the ship is over 50 per cent of the total cost of water transportation. On in- vestigation it will be found that the S.S.“SEATRAIN". ARRANGE af Son ae Segre crc fame eee me meueirert oe, i a ; seal pe: Y~=.1| f yt iz i Nee te NT I iil | fel | ake = dl aS Hie ity SAN) <= yoniceessinaneserszerest Tr : rr etre EE 24 MARINE REVIEW—February, 1929 al ll ee eee oe vessels of coastwise and nearby for- eign lines spend more than 50 per cent of their time in port in order to load and discharge their cargo. Tank- ers, ore carriers and colliers spend about 15 per cent of their time in port per year. ‘The cost of main- taining a cargo ship during 385 per cent of its time should be charged as an indirect expense for loading and discharging, as this expense would not be incurred if the vessel carried no cargo. Big Saving in Port Expenses The SEATRAIN in contrast with the ordinary cargo vessel can be loaded and discharged in a single working day with a handful of men and if necessary with only the ship’s crew, thus not only saving a large item of terminal expense, but also by reason of the quicker turn around saving a good part of the vessel’s operating expense. Perishable cargoes in re- frigerated railroad cars opens up an additional source of traffic to a ves- sel of the SEATRAIN type. This will mean in due course the building up of a trade from certain territories of commodities which cannot now be moved by the railroads because the all rail rates are in general more than double water rates. Water transportation furnished by vessels such as the SEATRAIN is es- sentially an intermediate one between two standard railroads and_ partic- mee el :