Patent ID: 6502523
Filing Date: 2003-01-07
Classification: B63B,B63C

Abstract:
A road-towed ferry capable of ferrying a heavy load and having a bow and a stern, comprising:a. a central hull with an upper deck surface, outboard surfaces, a bow portion, a stern portion, a fore-and-aft midpoint, and a centerline with a midpoint; b. bow and stern compartments positioned at locations at each of the bow and stern portions of said central hull, respectively, the bow compartment being adapted to couple to a fathometer transducer; c. a plurality of water-ballast tanks each being positioned at a location along said central hull and excluding the bow and stern compartments along the central hull, respectively; d. a winch compartment disposed across the centerline of said central hull and adjacent to said bow compartment; e. a machinery compartment located primarily aft of the fore-and-aft midpoint of said central hull along its centerline, said machinery compartment having sufficient dimension and construction to house at least one jet propulsion unit and being adapted to allow a housed jet propulsion unit to couple to a battery bank and to a steering unit; f. wheel wells outboard of said machinery compartment; g. a main fuel tank forward of said machinery compartment; h. a plurality of outer fuel tanks located within a region bounded by an outboard surface of said central hull, a wall of each of the wheel wells, a respective wall of each of the water-ballast tanks, and a portion of a forward main flotation compartment; i. said forward main flotation compartment being located within a region bounded by respective walls of the water-ballast tanks, a wall of said main fuel tank, and a wall of said bow compartment; j. an aft main flotation compartment located within a region bounded by a wall of said machinery compartment, a wall of said stern compartment, and respective walls of the water-ballast tanks; k. a plurality of outer flotation compartments each being located within a region bounded by an outboard surface of said central hull, a wall of one of said wheel wells, a wall of a respective one of said water-ballast tanks, and a portion of said machinery compartment.