Part of the innovative character of Jumbo Maritime is a constant search into a more efficient operation of their heavy lift transport vessels. Areas of improvement involve optimizing port time. Currently Jumbo Maritime
requires the onboard cranes to open the hold, decreasing effective use of the cranes. Furthermore an expensive load shifting system is needed when a piece of cargo heavier than 900 tonnes has to be loaded on front of aft of the ship, due to crane limitations.

In this report a study is done into an integrated solution for both issues experienced by Jumbo Maritime. A system that is able to open the hold and to shift a load to front and aft of the vessel. First, specifications of the new system are defined, after which a literature study is done exploring the options currently available in the industry.

After that, multiple concepts are generated, after which an integrated system is selected using a comparison method between concepts. The concept selected consists of a load shifting system using the hatches. Opening of the hold is accomplished by rolling the hatches to the aft where a stacking system is located. First the concept is dimensioned and further designed. The new design incorporates a new seafastening design of the hatches, one of the major challenges encountered in the assignment. The new design is evaluated in
structural sense using the finite element analysis program ANSYS to prove its feasibility.

After structural feasibility is proven, the design is tested to its functional requirements and implications on operations for Jumbo Maritime are considered. The new system could reduce the minimum opening time
of the hold by a factor two and could save around half a million euros on skidding rental costs yearly. As the system is autonomous, the risks involved for humans decrease significantly, beneficial for Jumbo Maritime’s
goal of zero Lost Time Injuries. Furthermore the impact on the stability of the vessel is minimal, so there is no impact on cargo loading operations.

An economic analysis is conducted to see if it is attractive for Jumbo Maritime to convert the current system onboard of the J1800-class vessels. Considering conversion rates of €4/kg for the structural conversion costs, a total conversion time of 33 days, it is proven that it is beneficial for Jumbo Maritime to convert the current vessels, with an overall value investment ratio of 1.04 and the payback time being 5.3 years.

Overall is concluded that a new integrated system for load shifting and hold opening is attractive to further investigate for Jumbo Maritime, both for their current vessels as well as new build vessels.