PLURAL-TIERED,BARGE-CARRYING WATERBORNE VESSEL AND METHOD RELATING THERETO

Abstract: In transporting cargo in waterborne vessels, the loading and unloading of goods from small river barges to ocean going vessels, and vice-versa, is time consuming and expensive. By using a barge vessel (50) having a plurality of tiers of floodable holds (54, 55, 57, 58) extending the length of the vessel and controlled by gates (71), locks (72), lock gates (110, 111), etc., and lock-changing and trimming system (150, 156), cargo containing barges can be floated into the large vessel (50). Preferably, there are a plurality of holds on each of upper, middle and lower decks of the vessel (50). Furthermore, in order to carry roll-on, roll-off cargo, the vessel (50) can have its buoyancy tanks (52, 53), charge tanks (150-154) and lock (72) filled to lower the stem (64) into alignment with a cooperating cargo carrying support to allow roll-on, roll-on movement of the cargo. By the structural design of such a vessel, both floatable cargo carrying barges and larger roll-on, roll-off upper deck loads can be readily transported.

Description: Reference to Related Application This application is a continuation-in-part of appli- cation Serial No. 23,890 filed March 26, 1979. Background of the Invention This invention relates to a barge-carrying waterborne vessel with at least two tiers of barge holds and a cargo-carrying deck. It also relates to methods employing such a vessel. Many problems, often related to the high cost of labor, have recently changed the economic and technical natures of shipping. For example, for many centuries materials have been transported by barges on rivers, lakes, canals, and inland waterway systems to ports near the river mouth, unloaded there from the barges, loaded on ocean-going vessels, sent to other ports across the sea, unloaded there, ^ reloaded in many instances on barges, and shipped up another river system. In recent years, however, the cost of loading and unloading cargo has risen higher and higher. Container- ized cargoes have helped somewhat, but even then, as well as in bulk-loaded barges, there has remained the necessity of unloading the barges at one port, placing the container and other cargo on a pier, and then loading from the pier .into an. ocean-going vessel, only to require the reverse procedure in the ports to which the cargo is carried by that vessel. All this adds considerably to the ultimate cost of the product concerned. An apparent answer to the problem is to ship the barges themselves. Since they cannot undergo an ocean voyage directly in the water, this would require loading the barges aboard an ocean-going vessel. However, few vessels are capable of carrying a series of barges aboard, and the problem of loading barges on the vessels must be confronted. The barges are often very large, and cranes or elevators to lift them would be very expensive. In fact, large river barges are not designed to be lifted by cranes. 1 Recent inventions such as our U.S. Patent No. 2 3,913,512, issued October 21, 1975, have proposed flotation 3 loading of barges and other cargo-carrying containers. 4 Since the barges are already in the water, flotation loading 5 can be employed with a specially constructed ship that has 6 a suitable hold and a gate through which the barge may be 7 floated into the hold. 8 9 However, barges are not as easily handled as are 10 smaller cargo-carrying containers; so particular provisions 11 have had to be made for them. Many barge types are . 12 relatively long for their " beam. The barges used on the 13 Mississippi and Rhine rivers, for example, are very long ' 14. compared to their width—the Mississippi barges are nearly 15 60 meters long and less than 11 meters wide. For a barge- 16 carrying system to be practical, the ocean-going, barge- 17 transporting vessel must be able to carry many barges. A 18 ship able to accommodate only a single line of barges would 19 be extraordinarily long and narrow. This general problem 20 was solved in our U.S. Patents Nos. 3,978,806, issued 21 September 7, 1976; and 4,135,468, issued January 23, 1979. 22 Those patents relate to a vessel having a plurality of 23 longitudinal holds, side by side, either two or three 24 parallel holds, each of which can take the full width of a 25 barge and each of which can accommodate several barges in 26 line or tandem. Also, the problem of loading and unloading 27 the vessel with barges was alleviated by mechanisms shown, 28 for example, in our U.S. Patent No. 4,147,123, which issued 29 April 3, 1979. 30 31 Even then, however, there remained a problem in 32 developing an adequate payload which would include both 33 barges and deck cargo and would make a barge-transport 34 system economically practicable. Calculations indicated 35 that with only a single tier of barges under the flotation- 36 loading system, the payload was somewhat marginal economi- 37 cally. Thus, an important object of the invention is to provide a barge-transporting vessel for accommodating more than one tier of barges in a flotation loading and un-- loading system. Heretofore, no one has proposed a feasible system of this kind. For example, the vessel shown in the Vargas U. S. Patent No. 3,939,790, which issued February 24, 1976. involves flotation loading and unloading and ac- commodates three tiers of relatively small lighters, es- pecially designed to be lifted or hung by the ends, but not full-size river barges. In fact, that system would not be workable for such barges, partly because it requires an ex- - pensive combination of support apparatus and lighter or barge hangers in addition to the flotation apparatus. That system complicates the loading and unloading, slows it down greatly, and makes it too expensive to build and to use. It also loses many of the advantages of true flota- tion loading and unloading. The present invention relates to the problem of how to provide for flotation loading and unloading of barges into two or more different levels within the same ship and how to do so in a simple and economical manner. A problem that arises as soon as one attempts to load two or more tiers of barges in one vessel, is the problem of draft. While there are many ports which can accomodate drafts up to 75 or 80 feet, which is much more than most vessels have and which would be adequate for a ship that would load two tiers of barges, there are many ports with draft of only about 40 feet. A system restricted to voyages between deep-draft ports would not be economically practical. - 4 - It is , therefore, an object of the present inven tion to provide an efficient and simple system for loading two or more tiers of barges into an ocean-going vessel whether the vessel is at a deep-draft port or at a rela- tively shallow-draft port. As will be seen, this object i attained by providing the barge-transporting vessel with a lock system analagous to canal locks. With such a vessel, it is also Important to be able to minimize the total amount of water to be pumped in and out and to keep the vessel properly stable and trimmed at all times. Hence, another object of the invention Is t solve these problems as well, in a ship able to take two o more tiers of barges by flotation loading and unloading. Barges come in a variety of types and sizes. Some carrier vessels can transport only one special type and size. A versatile barge-transporting vessel accommo- dating barges of various sizes and types would have -many advantages. Hence, an object of this invention is to provide a barge-transpoi-ting vessel capable of carrying a wide variety of types and sizes of barges. When the structure and mechanisms that solve the problems just discussed are available, as they are in the present invention, then it becomes possible to attack anot problem. This problem relates to cargo not transportable by barges. For example, there are many cargoes which are not capable of flotation loading and unloading, but which are very voluminous and heavy; and ordinary vessels find i very difficult, in fact often impossible, to accommodate some of these structures. When, for instance, it is desir to transport an entire factory or a huge structure zs tall as a ten-story building and very heavy, involving much ste it has been almost impossible to load and transport such cargoes. 1 The present invention makes it possible to trim 2 the vessel during loading in such a way that these large, 3 heavy cargoes can be rolled onto the main deck, using 4 machinery like that developed for moving large missiles on 5 land, and to achieve the loading from the dock to the ship. 6 The ship can then be trimmed back to her normal waterline. 7 Moreover, this can be done in conjunction with the transport 8 of barges, depending, of course, on total weights involved. 9 10 Many other objects and advantages of the invention 11 will be seen in the following description, and it will be 12 also seen there that other problems have been solved. 13 -14 15 Summary of the Invention 16 The invention comprises a barge-carrying ater- 17 borne vessel having a hull with rigid supporting and hull- 18 reinforcing structure, a bow, a stern, and sidεwalls 19 providing a series of buoyancy compartments. The hull has 20 a hollow ' interior defining a plurality of tiers of barge 21 holds, at least one upper longitudinal hold and at least one 22 lower longitudinal hold, each extending most of the length 23 of the vessel. There may be more than two such holds. 24 Flooding means enable placing water into each hold. 25 26 A first gate means at one end of the vessel, '27 usually the stern end, is opened for flotation loading and 28 unloading of a plurality of barges into each hold, when that 29 hold is flooded. Between the first gate means and both of 30 the holds is a single, deep, loading passage. Second gate 31 means lie between the loading passage and the lower hold; 32 and, preferably, third gate means lie between the loading 33 passage and the upper hold enabling use of the loading 34 passage as a lock. 35 36 Each hold preferably has a barge-retention means 37 for holding each barge down against the bottom of its hold. 38 This prevents movement of the barges during the ocean voyag and enables exchange of buoyancy between the vessel and eac barge in the lower hold when the lower hold is flooded. This is an important factor for ship safety in the event of damage to the vessel's hull. Preferably, the vessel is provided with barge- moving means in its hollow interior. X-Jhεre the vessel is primarily or often used in deepwater ports, where the lock system is not used, this may comprise a plurality of flow- creating means like those of our U. S. Patent No. 4,147,123 for causing flow of water to move barges in each hold In _ one direction during flotation loading and in the other direction during flotation unloading. Alternatively, and preferably when using the lock system, a cable and winch system like that of U. S. Patents Nos. 3,913,512 and 3,973,806 may be used. There may be two or three tiers of barge holds. There may be a plurality (preferably two or three) of upper barge holds and a plurality (preferably two or three) of lower longitudinal barge holds, separated from each other on each level by longitudinal bulkhead means. There may also be a plurality (preferably two or three) of similar intermediate holds. Thus, the hollow interior of the hull may define a plurality of upper longitudinal barge holds separated by longitudinal bulkhead means, a plurality of lower longitudinal -barge holds separated by longitudinal bulkhead means (and a plurality of intermediate such barge holds, if desired), and loading passage means at the stern end of the hull having a deck on the level of the lower hol and walls extending up as high as those of the upper hold. There may be a separate loading passage for each series of vertically aligned rows of holds, or there may be a single loading passage serving all the holds. In a vessel having single loading passage, there is then an upper lateral ' transfer area on the same level ' as the upper hold, and this 1 may comprise an upper portion of the loading passage. 2 There is also a lower lateral transfer area on the same 3 level as the lower hold, in between the lower hold and the 4 loading passage and separated from it by a lock gate. The 5 hold-flooding means places water into the lower lateral 6 transfer area when it puts water into, the lower holds. 7 The two upper holds may have separate lock gates and be 8 separately flooded. The transfer areas are provided with 9 water- et systems for accomplishing the lateral transfers, 10 similar in nature to those shown in our U. S. Patent No. 11 4,147,123. 12 13 Special buoyancy or charge tanks are preferably 1.4 provided adjacent the loading passage for storage of lock 15 water, which may comprise upper and lower tanks on each side 16 of the loading passage and also a tank beneath the loading 17 passage. A special water-circulation system passes seawater 18 directly Into and out from the loading passage or -lock and 19 directly into and out from the special buoyancy or charge . 20 tanks. 21 22 In addition, there may also be buoyancy tanks ' at 23 the bow end of the vessel for trim compensating from lock 24 water weight aft, with pumping means for pumping seawater 25 directly into and out from them. Another water-circulation 26 system is provided for filling or discharging water from 27 the special buoyancy trim tanks , in order to balance weight 28 during operation of the internal lock system. 29 30 Brief Description of the Drawings 31 In the drawings: 32 33 - Fig. 1 Is a schematic view in side elevation and 34 i section taken along the lines 1-1 in Figs. 2 and 3, of 35 vessel embodying the principles of the Invention, showing 36 load of barges in two tiers, and also deck cargo. 37 OMPI /*. WIPO Fig. 2 is a view in -horizontal section taken along the line 2-2 In Fig. 1, showing the upper tier of barge holds; and a portion of the main deck aft is also shown. Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section taken along the line 3-3 in Fig.1, showing the lower tier of barge holds Fig. 4 is an enlarged stern end view of the vessel as viewed along the line 4-4 in Fig. 1, showing, in solid lines, the stern loading gate in its closed position. A partially raised position of this gate is shown in broken lines. A portion of the gate-operating mechanism is shown by breaking away the covering structure. - Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in side elevation and partly insection of the posts for support of the stern gate of Fig. 4, viewed along the line 5-5 in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a further enlarged view along the line 6-6 in Figs. 4 and 8 of a portion of one side edge of the stern gate and its seating, shotting a gasketing arrange- ment thereof. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, simplified, isometric view of the stem end of the vessel of Fig. 1 showing the stern door or gate in its raised, open position. Fig. 8 is a similar view with the stem gate in its lowered, closed position. Fig. 9 is- a hydrostatic pressure-loading diagram, showing the hydraulic load on the stern gate when the load- ing passage is dry. Fig. 10 is a similar diagram with the loading passage filled. OMP IPO Fig. " 11 is a fragmentary isometric view of the loading passage, showing the retractable barge-support beams. Fig. 12 is a view in section taken along the line 12-12 in Figs. 1-3, showing the loading passage-fully loaded with barges. Fig. 13 is an enlarged view in section taken along the lines 13-13 In Figs. 1-3, showing the barges secured within their respective holds. Fig. 14 is an enlarged view in section taken along the lines 14-14 in Figs. 1-3 showing the barges secured at another location in the ship. Fig. 15 is a similarly enlarged view in section taken along the lines 15-15 in Figs. 1-3, shoxing the inner lock gates. Fig. 16 is a similarly enlarged view like Fig. 12 showing the loading passage or lock with a barge in the upper portion thereof being transferred laterally by water acting on one side of the barge. Fig. 17 is a fragmentary isometric enlarged view of a portion of the upper hold and upper lock chamber, showing the upper lock gates, one of which is shown parti- ally open in solid lines and fully open-in broken lines. Fig. 18 is a view in front elevation of one of the upper lock gates of Fig. 11 showing the operating mechanism for watertight dogging. Fig. 18A is a fragmentary isometric view of the dogging mechanism of Fig. 18. . OMPI f 1 Fig. 19 is an enlarged view of a portion of one 2 lock gate of Fig. 11 and its operating mechanism, taken 3 along line 19-19 in Fig. 18. 4 5 Fig. 20 is a fragmentary isometric enlarged view .6 of a portion of the lower hold and the lower portion of the 7 loading passage or lock, showing the gate between them and 8 its actuation system. 9 10 Fig- 21 is an exploded isometric diagrammatic vie 11 of the . loading passage or lock and its associated charge 12 tanks and pumping system: 13 -14 Fig. 21A is an enlargement of a portion of Fig.21 15 to show the piping more clearly. 16 17 Fig. 22 is a series of diagrammatic transverse 18 view A, B, C, D, and E of the loading passage or lock and 19 of the charge tanks of Fig. 21, with a barge in the lower 20 portion of the loading passage and showing the charge tanks 21 as they are at various stages in the proceeding. The base 22 or minimum water level in the lock is shaded by hatch lines 23 in one direction; hatching in the other direction shows the 24 water thereabove at various stages. 25 26 Fig. 23 is a series of diagrammatic lengthwise 27 views F, G, H, I, J, and K of the vessel showing the status 28 .of the flooding of-the holds, the loading passage or lock, 29 the charge tanks, and the trim ballast tanks during loading 30 of the upper holds. 31 32 Fig. 24 is a similar series of views L, M, N, 0. 33 P, and Q showing the loading of the lower holds and of the 34 loading passage or lock itself. 35 36 37 Fig. 25 is a view of a vessel of the invention so trimmed that a very large and heavy load which may be as high and voluminous as a 10-story building and correspondingly heavy may be loaded onto the vessel from a floating barge. ' Fig. 26 is a similar view of an alternative system in which the pier or dock Itself is provided with a ramp and the vessel Is floated and trimmed at a different level. Fig. 27 is a view like Fig. 1 of a modified form of barge transporting vessel, also embodying the principles of the invention. Fig. 28 is a plan view in horizontal section of the upper barge hold of the vessel of Fig. 27. 6 Fig. 29 is a plan view in horizontal section of 8 the lower barge hold of the " vessel of Fig. 27. Fig. 30 is a fragmentary isometric view of the stern end portion of another vessel embodying the principles of the invention. 3 Fig. 31 is a vertical sectional view thereof. ' 6 Fig. 32 is a fragmental sectional view thereof. 8 Fig. 33 is a view in elevation and partly in 9 section of a modified form of barge-carrying vessel e - 0 bodying the principles of the invention, with barges stored 1 therein. It is taken along the line 33-33 in Figs. 34, 35, 2 and 36. This vessel has three tiers of barge stowage decks 3 or holds. The starboard stern gate is shown in solid lines ' 4 in its closed positions and in broken lines in its raised 5 positions. 6 7 Fig. 34 is 'top plan view of the vessel of Fig. 33 8 showing its uppermost barge stowage hold. It may be considered. as a view taken along the line 34-34 in Fig. 33. Fig. 35 is a view in section taken along the line 35-35 in Fig. 33 and serving in effect as a plan view of the middle or intermediate barge stowage holds. Fig. 36 is a view taken along the line 36-36 in Fig. 33 and constituting a plan view of the lowermost barge stowage holds, of the vessel of Fig. 33. Fig. 37 is a view similar to Fig. 34 showing one particular barge in several positions, illustrating how that barge is moved to its barge stowage position with the aid of * a small tug, which is shown here diagrammatically. Fig. 38 is a view in section taken along the line 38-38 in Fig. 33. Fig. 39 is a view in section taken along the line 39-39 in Fig. 33. Fig. 40 is a view taken along the line 40-40 in Fig. 33. Fig. 41 is a view in side elevation of a small tug- boat used in connection with the loading and unloading of th barges in the vessel of Figs. 33 to 40. Fig. 42 is a rather diagrammatic plan view of the tugboat of Fig. 41 roped to one side of a barge. Fig. 43 is a view similar to Fig. 33, but broken i the middle to conserve space, of a non-self-powered vessel, - being pushed by a tugboat, embodying the principle of the invention in a modified form, taken along the lines 43- 43 each of Figs. 44, 45, and 48. 1 Fig. 44 is a fragmentary plan view of a rear por- 2 tion of the vessel of Fig. 43 looking down on the upper deck. 3 4 Fig. 45 is a similar fragmentary plan view looking 5 down on the intermediate deck. 6 7 Fig. 46 is a similar fragmentary plan view looking 8 down on the lowerst deck, with the tugboat shown in outline. 9 10 Fig. 47 is a view in section taken along the line- 11 47-47 in Fig. 43. 12 - 13 Fig. 48 is a somewhat schematic view in side ele- -14 vation and in section, taken along the line 48-48 in Fig. 49, 15 of another modified form of vessel with the loading gate and 16 lock at the bow of the vessel. 17 18 Fig. 49 is a view in horizontal section taken 19 along the line 49-49 In Fig. 48, showing the intermediate 20 hold. 21 22 Fig. 50 is a view in horizontal section taken 23 along the line 50-50 in Fig. 48 showing the lowest hold. 24 ' 25 Fig. 51 Is a fragmentary enlarged isometric view 26 of a portion of a longitudinal stanchion bulkhead, such as 27 is also shown in Fig. 49. 28 29 Fig. 52 is a similar view of a plated bulkhead, 30 such as is also shown in Fig. 50, with portions broken away. 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 " 14 " Description of Some Preferred Embodiments The vessel in general (Figs. 1-3) : Figs. 1-3 show a vessel 50 having a hull 51 with ' sidewalls comprising a series of port and starboard buoyanc tanks 52 and 53. There also are bottom buoyancy tanks 52a The vessel has a pair of upper barge holds 54 and 55 separated by a longitudinal bulkhead 56 and a pair of lower barge holds 57 and 58 separated by a longitudinal bulkhead 59. There is also an upper or main deck 60, whic is preferably flat and substantially without openings throu it, for accommodation of loads on the top thereof, such as the cargo containers 61 " shown in Fig. 1. This deck 60 may have a crane 62 movable therealong. A ramp 63 may be pivotally mounted near the stern 64. A barge tender 65 (See Fig. 2) may also be stowed on the deck 60. The vessel 50 is provided with engine compartmen 66 and 67 (Fig. 3), the engines driving two propellors 68 and 69, one on each side (See Figs. 1, 4, 25 and 26). Moreover, there is a Master Control P-.oom 70 (Fig. 2) near the stem with apparatus for control of the loading, and unloading of barges B. The ste n gate 71 (Figs. 1-10) : A gate 71 (See Figs. 1-10) Is provided at the stem 64, opening into a loading passage or lock 72. The gate 71 is shaped generally to match the cross-section, of the loading passage 72, which has_ a lower, narrow central portion 73 at the level of the lower barge holds 57 and 58 and an upper portion 74 approximately twice as wide locate at the level of the upper holds 54 and 55. Thus, the gate 71 has a lower, narrow central portion 75 and a wider uppe portion 76. The gate 71 is supported by two posts 77 and 78 located at the outboard aft co ers of the main deck 60 A portion of the gate post 78 is shown in Figs. 4 and 5, partly broken away, the opposite post 77 being substantial the same. At each post 77,78 a motor SO (Fig. 5) may rota OM - 15 " 1 _ shaft 81 which drives a traction pulley 82- and raises and 2 lowers the gate 71 via a cable or chain 83, having a counter- 3 -weight 84 ' at one end and attached to the gate 71 at the 4 other end. Instead, hydraulic force may be used. 5 6 The gate 71 is suitably gasketed and is made very 7 strong so that it can meet the unusual demand of acco mo- 8 dating pressures from varying heads of water on either side 9 of it. (See Figs. 9 and 10.) As will soon be seen in 10 Fig. 9, the seawater exerts an unbalanced inward pressure 11 on the gate 71 when the loading chamber or passage 72 is 12 completely dry inside. On the other hand, when the water 13 inside the loading passage 72 Is at a much higher level than -14 the water outside (Fig. 1.0), the pressures are larger and 15 bear in the opposite direction- Consequently, the gate must 16 be able to withstand that type of hydraulic force. .The gate 17 71 is therefore made strong and heavy; it may weigh about 18 100 tons. 1 20 To prevent leakage around the gate 71, a gasketing 21 structure like that shown in Fig. 6 may be used. The ship 22 50 has a transom 85 which has a V-shaped channel 86 around -23 the gate opening. The gate 71 has -its edges 87 corres- -24 pondingly V-shaped; the edges 87 are provided with a pair 25 of bearing bars 88 that engage the channel 86 and a pair of 26 inflatable pneumatic gaskets 89. The channel ' 86 includes 27 pair of compression bars 90 that engage the gaskets 89. 28 hydraulic mechanism 91 in the transom 85 has a bar 92 29 that engages in an opening 93 of the gate 71 to lock the 30 gate 71 in place at both its fully open or fully closed 31 position, there being at least two such bars 92 and openings 32 93, one for the open position and one for the closed 33 position. 34 35 36 37 38 OMPI 1 The loading passage or lock 72 2 (Figs. 1-3, 7, 11, 12, 16, and 22) : 3 The loading passage or lock 72 (See Figs.7 and 11 4 has a bottom deck 95 for its lower portion 75 with sidewall 5 96 and 97 leading up to a pair of shelves 98 and 99 at the 6 lower end of the upper level 74, and sidewalls 100 and 101 7 extend thereabσve. The loading passage 72 is somewhat 8 longer than the longest barge B to be loaded, but not a 9 great deal. It will also act as a stowage compartment for 10 one, two, or three barges B, one being stowable in the low 11 level 73, and two in the upper level 74. The upper level 12 74 also acts as a transfer hold to move barges B, from one 13 side to the other to get them into and out from either of . 14.• the two upper barge holds 54 and 55. 15 - 16 Figs. 11 and 12 show how two barges B may be 17 stowed in the upper portion 74. Retractable barge-support 18 beams 102 can be moved out through openings 103 in the wal 19 96 and 97 by suitable hydraulic machinery (not illustrated) 20 In well-known manner, thereby in effect widening the shelv 21 98 and 99. For such stowage, the two barges B are floated 22 in directly at the upper level 74. As will soon be apparent, 23 this two-barge stowage can be used only for transport 24 between deepwater ports. Otherwise, only one barge B is 25 stowable at the upper level 74 for loading and unloading a 26 shallow-water ports. This is explained below. 27 28 The upper portion 74 of the loading passage 72 29 functions also as a transfer bay for the barges to be load 30 into or out from the upper holds. The idea is to transfer 31 each barge laterally from a central position to either sid 32 and vice versa. For this purpose, a series of water ets 33 105 (See Figs. 11 and 16) is provided in the walls 100 and 34 101. Their structure and operation may be identical to 35 those of the transfer j ts in our U. S. Patent No.4,147,12 36 the description and operation there, hereby being incor- 37 poratεd by reference herein. 38 The upper lock gates 110, 111 (Figs. 2, 15, and 17-19): Preferably, at the forward end of the loading passage or lock 72 on the upper level 74 are a pair of lock gates 110 and 111 which close off the two respective upper barge holds 54 and 55. (Lock gates here would not be essential if the vessel 50 is to be used only for deepwater flotation loading or unloading, but even then they are useful safety devices.) While various structures are suitable, a presently preferred structure for the lock gates 110 and 111 is shown in Figs. 17-19. As shown there, each lock-gate 110,111 is made in two sections 112,113 hinged together by hinges 114 along the center, with suitable gasketing there (not shown) . The gates 110 and 111 are each mounted for rotation relative to a stationary vertical pivot 115. The gates 110 and 111 are opened by folding the gate portion 113 against the portion 112 and while swinging the portion 112 into a recess 116 in ' the wall 100 or 101. One way of doing this is (See- Fig. 17) to use a hydraulic closure system with one C3 τ linder-piston assembly 117 for swinging the portion 112 into the recess 116 and a second cylinder-piston assembly 118 for swinging the portion 113 against the portion 112 and, with it, into the recess 116. The gates 110 and 111 are thus two-section watertight pontoon steel doors hydraulically opened and closed. A dogging mechanism is shown in Figs. 18, 18A, and 19, using an hydraulically actuated gang bar 119, one on the top and one on the bottom of each lock gate 110,111, secured to the deck above and below the gate. As shown in Fig. 19, a hydraulic actuator 120 may operate each gang bar 119 via a shaft 121, which acts in concert with a gang dog 122 on a shaft 123. A gasket 124 and a compression bar 125 on the gate frame 126 cooperate with a series of wedges 127 on the lip 128 of the gate 110 or 111 to prevent leakage, and a steel stop 129 limits movement. Thus, the gates 110 and 111, when closed, resist hydrostatic pressure in- either direction to maintain wat-ertightness. - 18 ~ The lower lock gate 130 and lower transfer bay (Figs. 3, 14, 15, and 20): - On the lower level there is a single lock gate 130 leading into a transfer bay 131 as wide as the width of the two lower barge holds 57 and 58 and having direct access therein to the two lower barge holds 57 and 58. Fig. 20 shows a suitable lock gate 130 for this position. It is made In two sections 132 and 133, each slidable horizontal into a respective recess 134 and 135 -for opening the gate 130. The gasketing and dogging may b similar to that shown for the upper gates 110 and 111. Hydraulic actuators 136 and 137 may move the gate portions 132 and 133. This gate 130 " must withstand considerable pressure from the loading passage or lock side when the lo is full. The lower transfer bay 131 is substantially like that described in our U. S. Patent No. 4,147,123, with et 138 like the jets 105 for the upper transfer bay 74-. The barge holds 54, 55, 57, and 58: The barge holds 54, 55, 57, and 58 may be substa tially like those described in our U. S. Patent No. 4,147,12 although different hold-down devices may be used. Fig. 13 shows cable-type hold-downs, with cables 140 anchored to bits 141 on the barges B and secured by an anchor 142 to a sidewall of the hold or at the other side of the barge B by an anchor 143 located in the bulkhead 56 or 59, each of which is provided with suitable passages an recesses therefor. The number of barges B that can be accommodated i the vessel 50 will vary, of course, according to .the ty of barge B involved- and the ship design. As an example, a O - 19 - construction is shown in Figs. 1-3 which has six barges B retained on the lower level and as many as eight on the upper level. Of these, four are in the two holds 57 and 58 at the lower level, that is, two in each hold; one Is retained in the transfer bay 131 (See Fig. 14 where anchors 144 for the cables 140 are in the floor) ; and the sixth in the lower portion 73 of the loading passage 72 (See Fig.16). On the upper level there are six barges B in the holds 54 and 55, that is, three in each of the two holds; and two may be (at times) retained in conjunction with the shelves ' 98 and 99 and retractable beams 102, with cables 140 anchored to a beam 102 at a recess attachment 145. Where deepwater loading is employed, a wate flow S3 τ stem like that shown and described in our U. S. Patent No. 4,147,123 may be used. As shown in Fig. 1, there may be a sump 146 at each hold level, and a pump 147 in conjunction therewith for pumping in from the sea or out to it to induce longitudinal wa erflow in a fore or aft direction. When the lock-type loading is used, a wi ph-type of barge-moving system is preferred. As is shown in Fig. 23-H, a winch 148 and endless cable 149 are used with hooks 149a. on the cable 149 for attachment to a tow line 149b_ on each barge B. Charge tanks and trim tanks (Fias. 21-24) A very important feature of the present invention is its ability to be used in both deepwater ports and in shallow-water ports. In use in deepwater ports, the process is relatively simple, because the ship can have a draft of sufficient depth to enable direct flotation loading of the upper tier of barges. However, in a shallow-water port, the operation is necessarily different, because the ship cannot use its deep draft as it can in a deepwater port; hence, it is necessar}' to use a very novel type of operation 1 provided by this invention using the loading passage much 2 as a canal lock aboard the ship. The combination of the 3 gates 71, 110, 111, and 130 makes possible this type of 4 operation, and the efficiency of the operation is aided 5 greatly by the use of charge tanks and trim tanks. 6 7 Thus, there is preferably one bottom charge tank 8 150 directly below the loading passage or lock 72; there ar 9 two side charge tanks 151 and 152, one on the port side and 10 one on the starboard side on either side of the loading 11 passage's lower portion 74; and there are two upper side 12 charge tanks 153 and 154 above the lower tanks 151 and 152, 13 one on the port side and one on the starboard side of the '14. vessel 50. This is shown. in Figs. 21 and 22, Fig. 21 being 15 an exploded view thereof. 16 17 Furthermore, at the bow end of the vessel, lock 18 trim ballast tanks 155 and 156 are also provided to control 19 the fore-and-aft trim of the vessel 50 to compensate for 20 lock water located at the aft end of the vessel. (Figs. 23 and 21 24) 2 Lock-charging system (Figs. 21-24) : 23 The lock-charging and trimming system comprises 24 the lock charging tanks 150, 151, 152, 153, and 154; 25 piping and valves between the transfer passage 72;- the lock 26 trim tanks 155 and 156; the outside sea (for lock spill and ' 27 make-up) and the outside weather (for venting); pumps; 28 pump drivers; controls; and indicators. The lock-charging 29 tanks 150, 151, 152, 153, and 154 ' are arranged in elevation 30 so that some of the pumping energy required in transferring 31 water between them and the loading passage or lock 72 is 32 partly recovered, thus reducing the pumping energy required 33 for locking the barges B up and down. 34 35 This reduction of energy is accomplished by 36 arranging some of the lock charge tank volumebelow the level 37 of the lock 72. In- operating the lock-charging system, 38 2_ the controls sequence the filling and emptying of the 2 lock-charge tanks so that the pumps are augmented by gravity 3 flow during part of the lock charge and discharge cycle. 4 5 The volume of water in the. lock 72 and in the 6 barge holds 54, 55, 57, and 58 will change as a result of 7 loading or unloading barges B and cause a- difference in 8 level between the lock 72 and the outside sea. This 9 difference in level is overcome by opening equalizing valves 10 and pipes between the lock 72 and the outside sea to make-up 11 or spill lock water as necessary. 12 13 The longitudinal location of the lock-charging -1.4 tanks 150, 151, 152, 153,. and 154 is maintained at about the 15 same longitudinal position in the ship as the lock 72 so 16 that minimal change of trim will occur when locking barges 17 up or down. 18 19 Diesel engines 160 and 161 drive pumps 162 and 163. 20 The pumps 162 and 163 are connected to a series of pipes 21 and valves. The pipes 164 and 165 lead to the transfer 22 passage or lock 72. The pipes 164 and 165 may be connected 23 to the bottom charge tank 150 through pipes 166 and 167 24 and valves 168 and 169. Or, the pipes 164 and 165 may be 25 connected by valves 170 and 171 and pipes 172 and 173 26 leading to the respective tanks 151 and 152. Pipes 174 and 27 175 and valves 176 and 177 connect the pipes 164 and 165 to 28 the upper charge tanks 153 and 154. Pipe 178 and valves 29 179 and 180 lead from the lock 72 to the sea via a sea chest 30 181. If the lock 72 should receive an excessive amount of- 31 water, overflow can pass via a pipe 182 into the tank 154 32 via a check valve . 183 or into the tank 152 via pipe 184 and 33 check valve 185. 34 ' 35 36 37 1 Deepwater port operation: 2 For a deepwater port the flotation loading and 3 unloading is relatively easy, and this does not change 4 according to whether the vessel 50 was originally loaded in 5 a shallow water port, or whether the original loading is in 6 the deepwater port. It is normal for the loading procedure 7 and transport procedures to differ somewhat according to th 8 number of barges B and deck cargo 61 to be transported. For 9 example, if there is to be only deck cargo 61 transported, 10 then, of course, there is no flotation loading and unloadin 11 of barges; although it should be noted that if there are 12 barges B already present, deck cargo 61 can be loaded and 13 unloaded quite satisfactorily anyway. This can be done by '14_ roll-on, roll-off methods, and, of course, can also be done 15 by cranes , if that is desired. 16 17 If no deck cargo 61 is to be transported and up t 18 six barges B are to be transported, then they are preferabl 19 all transported on the lower level in the barge holds 57 an 20 58, the transfer bay 131, and the lower portion 74 of the 21 loading passage 72. The vessel 50 is ballasted to the prope 22 level, the lower hold transfer area 131 and loading passage 23 72 flooded, the gates 71 and 130 opened, the loading done 24 as in our previous patents, and then the gates 71 and 130 25 are all closed, and the holds, transfer bay, and loading 26 passage preferably pumped dry. 27 28 The barges B are retained in place by suitable 29 hold-down means which will retain them down even against 30 the force of buoyancy of the water tending to lift them. 31 This means more than a simple retention in place, since ccnsi- 32 derable force must be exerted. This feature is shown in 33 each of our earlier patent numbers referred to earlier and 34 may be applied in exactly the same way here. This hold-dow 35 is particularly " important on the lower level since a leak 36 Into that level endangering the safet} 7 of the ship is to 37 some extent counteracted by the transfer of buoyancy- betwee 38 _ O 1 the barges and the ship, especially if the barges are only 2 lightly loaded. Hold-downs are also provided on the upper 3 level, but there a lighter force may be used since there is 4 no reason for providing for a transfer of buoyancy on the 5 upper level. 6 7 The vessel 50 can accommodate not only six barges 8 B in the lower level but eight on the upper level. The 9 loading in a deepwater port may be done by ballasting the 10 ship to the level necessary for loading the lower holds, 11 opening the gates 71 and 130 and loading the lower barge 12 holds 57 and 58, securing the barges B in place, loading the 13 transfer bay 131 and securing a barge B.in place there, 14. closing the lower lock gate 130,,then increasing the ballast, 15 flooding the upper holds 54 and 55, opening the gates 110 16 and 111 there, loading the upper barge holds 54 and 55 and 17 the upper transfer bay 74, loading the lower portion 73, and 18 then deballasting the ship for sea. 19 20 Loading operations, in case there is deck cargo 21 61, then proceeds according to how many barges B there are. 22 Up to six barges B may be carried in either the upper holds 23 54 and 55 or in the lower holds 57,58, and extra barges B 24 may be put into the other hold up- to the final total, 25 depending upon how much load is on deck and how much load 26 Is in the barges. 27 28 Lock-type loading operation 29 (Figs. 22-24): 30 In a relatively shallow port, that is where the 31 draft does not exceed perhaps 40 feet, a different loading 32 procedure must be. employed if the upper barge holds 54 and 33 55 are to be loaded; because the ship 50 will not be able 34 to be ballasted deep enough to load the upper holds directly 35 by flotation. A very important feature of the present 36 invention is its ability to accommodate this type of > 37 shallow-port loading by utilizing a lock type of operation. - 24 - The steps may be as follows: 1. Fig. 23—F: The upper barge holds 54 and 55 may be flooded b their pumps to the required depth for handling barges B by flotation. With the lower lock gate 130 closed and the upper lock gates 110 * and 111 also closed, the loading passage or lock 72 is flooded by water directly from the s to equalize with the ship's draft, while at the same time the trim tank 155 at the bow end of the vessel is flooded to about half its depth to eliminate trim from the lock flooding. This tank 155 may have several compartments, if desired. The stern gate 71 is then opεnεd, and thε first bargε B floatεd into thε lock 72. 2. Fig. 23—G: The stern gate 71 is then closed and water is pumped from the sea to raise the levεl of water in the lock 72 up to the level of the water in the upper barge holds 54 and 55. At the same time, water is added forward in the lock trim ballast tanks 155 and 156 to maintain a zero trim. 3. Fig. 23—H: The barge B Is shifted laterally in the lock portion 74 by the jets 105 to be in line with one of the barge holds 54 or 55, and then the lock gate 110 or 111 for that hold is openεd and thε barge B floated into the hold 54 or 55. This may be aided by a winch system, as us in our U. S. Patent No. 3,913,512. The first barge B thus has been lifted as in a lock and then floated into the hol _ OM 4 - Fig. 23--I and Fig. 22--A: After the first barge B has been floated into that hold 54 or 55 and while it is being moved forward there, the lock gate 110 or 111 is closed, and the lock water is then pumped out of the lock 72 into the lock charge tanks 150, 151, 152, 153, and 154. Since the lock 72 will now have εxcess water displaced by the barge B that has been loaded in the upper hold 54 or 55, its level must be equalized with the vessel's draft by opening the equalizing valve 181. 5. Fig. 23--F to I and - Figs. 22--B, C, D, and E: Then the stern gate 71 is opened, and the lock operation repεated to load barges B, one at a time, into the upper holds 54 and 55. Each time the operation is repεated in substantially the same manner as before except that the interchange of water is now from the charge tanks 150, 151, 152, 153, and 154 into the lock 72 and vice versa, as shown in Fig. 22, rather than in and out of the sea each time. Thus, water is first transferred into the lock 72 from the bottom tank 150 (A to B) , then from the lower side tanks 151 and 152 (C and D) , and finally from the upper side tanks 153 and 154 (E) . This results in considerable economy. The trim ballast in the tanks 155 and 156 is also adjusted, as shown in Fig. 23 (F to I) but directly with thε sea. 6. Fig. 23—J: Thε upper barge holds 54 and 55 are both loaded with their full complement of barges B (See J) . Then preparations are made to load the lower barge holds 57 and 58. No barges B are yet stowed in the lock 72 at the upper level 74. At this stage, the upper barge holds are pumped dry (J) ; the water may be pumpεd directly into the lower barge hold. The forward trim tanks 155 and 156 are .adjusted (I to J) to eliminate the effect of trim from the lock - 26 - 1 flooding, which will be less since the uppεr lock part 74 2 will not be used again for awhile. With, all of the lock 3 o-ates 110, 111, and 130 closed, the stern gate 71 is opene 4 (J) , and a bargε B movεd into the lock 72. 5 6 7. Fig. 23—K and Fig. 24—L: 7 The stern gate 71 is then closed, the level in t 8 lock 72 is lowered (K) , the lower lock gate 130 is opened, 9 and a bargε B is moved through the lock gate 130 (L) into 10 the transfer bay 131. The lock gate 130 is then closed. 11 The barge B Is laterally shifted in the transfer bay 131 12 and then floated into one of the lower holds 57 or 58. 13. ' 14. 8. Fig. 2 --M and N: 15 The height of thε water in the lock 72 is raised 16 to match the draft of thε vessel 50; then the stem door 7 17 is reopened (M) . The operations of Figs. 23—J, K, L, and 18 M are rεpeated until the lower holds 57 and 58 are fully 19 loaded, and one barge B securεd in placε in thε transfεr 20 bay 131 (N) . 21 22 9. Fig. 24—N: 23 Thε lock trim ballast in tanks 155 and 156 is 24 adjusted, the gate 130 closed, and the holds 57 and 58 25 pumped dry. Thus, all the holds 54, 55, 57, and 58, and 26 the transfεr bay 131 are dry by the time Fig. 24--0 is 27 rεachεd. That lεavεs all the hold space loadεd εxcept that 28 in the lock 72. 29 30 10. Fig. 24—0: 31 With the lock gates 110, 111, and 130 all closed, 32 the stern gate 71 is opened and a barge is floated in. The 33 stern gate 71 is closed, and the level of water in the loc 34 72 is raised (by water from the charge tanks 150, 151, 152, 35 153, and 154, while adjusting the water level in the tanks 36 155 and 156 to maintain trim) to place this barge B on one 37 of the shelves 98 or 99. Only one bargε B can bε stowed 38 at the upper level 74 of the loading passage 72 in this instance, the buoyancy tanks- 52 and 53 being used to adjust the list from the off-center load. The appropriate beams 102 are. projected, and that barge. B secured in place. 11. Fig. 24--P: With the lock gates 110, 111, and 130 still closed and thε stern gate 71 also, closed, the water level is lowered leaving the latest barge B on a dry shelf 98 or 99, ballast being properly adjusted by the tanks -52 and 53. Then the gate 71 may be opened, and the last barge B may be floated in at the lower levεl 73. ' -. " ■ • - 12. Fig. 24—Q: When the last barge is in placε, it is secured, thε stern door 71 is closed, all the water is pumped out of the lock 72, and the lock charge water is also pumped out of the charge tanks 150, 151, 152, 153, and 154 and from the trim ballast tanks 155 and 156, simultaneously. With the barges B properly secured with hold-down devices, the ship 50 can begin its voyage. The unloading is done similarly in substantially reverse order. Handling of very heavy deck loads (Figs. 25 and 26): Normal deck loads can be accommodated while there are barges In the ship 50. However, on occasion it may be desired to transport a very heavy deck load, and this invention makes it possible to do this; although in some instances no barges can be transported simultaneously. This, of course, depends upon the total weight involved, ' and in some Instances both barges and a relatively heavy load can be transported. - In Fig. 25, for examplε, a very heavy load module 190 may be transported by transferring it from land onto ' a barge 191, and then loading it onto the deck 60. For this purpose, a deepwater port is required, in order to obtain - 28 ~ an aft draft of about 6.S feεt. Thε vεssel 50 is so ballasted that it is trimmed aft, with the bow 192 almost out of the water, resulting in a trim angle of 3° by the stεrn. This may be done by filling some of the buoyancy ' tanks 52 and 53 and also by filling all of the charge tank 150, 151, 152, 153, and 154 and the lock 72, whilε lεaving thε trim tanks 155 and 156 empty. The stem 64 of the shi 50 may substantially match the level of the forward end of the barge 191 which can be itself slightly trimmed to equal that of the ship 50 so as to provide a smooth, continuous surface betwεen thε two. A roll-on, roll-off type of dεvice 193, such as that used for transporting ver heavy missiles on land can be used to load directly onto the deck 60 and to put it. at any desired location thεrεon. Fig. 26 shoτs an altεrnativε systε dirεctly loading from a pier 195 by using a ramp 196 on the pier 19 and by having the deck 60 about 20 feεt above its water level with a draft aft of about 58 feet, and again the bow 192 almost out of the water. This gives about a 3° trim. All loading on deck 60 may be roll-on and roll-o or, of course, if desired cranes may be used. Cranes involve no unusual operation, howevεr, εxcept that the shi 50 is capable of taking this kind of load. A vessel 200 for smaller barges (Figs. 27-29) : For uses .involving smaller barge types and somewhat shallower water, a vessel 200 like that shown in Figs. 27-29 may be prefεrablε, as for example, in the coasting trade along the West Coast of Africa. Here the barges B' are only about 30 meters long, nearly 11 meters wide, and 5 metεrs dεεp. . Basically, thε vεssεl 200 has upper barge holds 201 and 202 divided by a bulkhead 203, quite similar to th holds 54 and 55 with their bulkhead 56 of the vessel' 50. ^ /v Upper lock gates 204 and 205 like the lock gates 110 and 111 may be used, and a stern gate 206 basically like the gate 71 may bε used to admit barges to a loading passage or lock 207. A significant differencε is in thε lower hold. The lock 207 may be quite short to match the length of shorter barges, with a lower lock gate 208 at its forward end like the gate 130. But therε is not sufficiεn-t spacε (duε to thε nεed of thε charge tanks 150 through 154 and machinery compartments 210 and 211) for the lock 207 to open directly into a transfer bay. Lower barge holds 212 and 213 _ and their separating bulkhead 214 are indeed like thε holds 57 and 58 and the bulkhead 59, and a transfer bay 215 is basically similar, though shorter, than the transfer bay 131; it has jets 216 for lateral transfer. But between the transfer bay 215 and the lock 207 is an additional stowage bay 217. The upper bargε holds 201 and 202 are loaded with barges B' as in thε vεssεl 50, and -then the lower barge holds 212 and 213, the transfer bay 215 and the stowagε bay 217 are loaded. Then a barge B' is floated in and the lock -207 flooded to bring that barge B " ' up on a shelf 220 of the lock 207. Beams 221 like the beam 102 are provided for support. Finally, thε last barge B' is floated into thε lower portion of the lock 207. ~. 30 - Triple-tier structure with three rows of vertically-aligned holds on each tier (Figs. 30-32) : The invention is not limited to two tiers or to two holds per tier. In some instances, much larger barge- carrying vessεls will bε rεquirεd or will be desirable, an the invention is applicable to such vessels. Thus, Fig. 3 shows the sternportion of a vessel 250 having three tiers of holds with threε holds on each tier. The lowest tier 251 thus has threε holds 252, 253, and 254, each of which has a lock gate 255, 256, 257. The outside lock gates 255 and 257 may be substantially identical to the lock gat 110 and 111 described previously, folding and fitting into respectivε recesses 258 and 259. The lock gate 256 in the ' center is preferably a divided gate with two portions 260 and 261 each on vertical pivots 262 and 263, which sea In respεctivε rεcesses 264, and 265, onε on εach side of i hold 253. The next tier up, an intεrmediatε tiεr 270 also has thrεε holds , and they are vertically in line with the corrεsponding holds 252, 253, and 254 of thε lower tier 25 Their gates may be the same as those for the lowest tier. The uppermost tier 271 also has three holds, and they also are vertically aligned, respectively, with those of the two lower tiers 251 and 270. The gates for the upper hold m y again bε. the same as those for the lowest tier 251. While it is possible to have a single loading ga and a single loading passage or lock, with a vessel so lar and a capacity of so many barges B , it is presently preferable to provide three separate stern gates 275, 276, and 277, one for each vertically aligned row of holds, and a separate loading passage or- lock 278, 279, and 280 for each. In this instance, there is, of course, no shifting laterally within the loading passage. The lock operations are substantially the same as that described except for th absence of" lateral shifting and except for the fact that there are three tiers of holds ' to be loaded. All three rows may be loaded simultaneously with all the stern gates 275, 276, and 277 opεn at once, with the locking operation either being simultaneous for the three locks 278, 279, 280 or differing. If desired, one stern gate can be opened at a time, and barges to or from only one hold loaded or unloadεd. This might happen in an instance where the vessel 250 is to visit several ports with the barges B loaded appropriately so that all the barges for the first port can be taken out first, and so on, whether or not other barges are to be loaded on board, in exchange. _ Otherwise, the invention is thε samε as that prεviously described, and the device as given as examples may be used as shown earlier. There are charge tanks and trim tanks, pumps, and so on, all as before or modified for the noted differεncεs. The vessel itself may be self-pro- pelllng or may not, and this structurε is particularly ■ applicable to a vessel designed for towing. Any form of the invention shown is capable of taking a variety of size-s of barges. Each particular vessel may be designed with a particular barge in mind, but that may simply bε thε maximum-sizεd barge that can be taken, or it may not even be that, depεnding upon the design. The invention is very versatile in this respect and may carry a wide variety of barges or evεn lighters and other con- tainers, if that is desired. Other tiering systems can be used; and, of course, it will be apparent that other gate structures can be used, so long as they meεt the functional requirements which have been either expressed or implied in the previous description. ^ Thε Thrεe-Tier Barge Carrier 300 of Figs. 33-42 Figs. 33 to 42 show another three-deck barge carrie 300 which is adapted to deal with some particular situations that will be related in this description. The barge carrier 300 has three tiers, 301, 302, an 303 of longitudinal barge-stowage holds. The lowermost tie 301 has three longitudinal holds, 304, 305, and 306; the in termεdiate tier 302 has three longitudinal holds, 307, 308, and 309; and the upper tier 303 has three longitudinal holds, 310, 311, and 312. Each tier thus has a starboard hold, a port hold, and a -central hold. In line with the lowermost central hold 305 is an en ginε compartment 313 (seε Fig.36), which includεs the steεr ing. gεar, the propelling machinery, the diesel εngine, and s on. Because of this structure, it is of course not practica to have a central stern gate. In the carrier 300, therefore there- are two stem gates, as shown in Figs. 36 and 39; a starboard stern gate 315, and a port stern gate 316. The starboard stern gate 315 leads into a barge lock 317,. closed at the other end by three pairs of lock gates; lowermost loc gates 318 lεading into the lowεrmost starboard hold 304, in tεrmεdiate lock gates 319 leading into the intermediate star board hold 307, and uppermost lock gates 320 leading into th uppermost starboard hold 310. The port stern gate 316 leads directly into a barge stowage area 321 which is in line with ' thε lowermost port hol 306 and is separatεd from it by a watεrtight door arrangεmεn 322. Thε lock gatεs 318, 319, and 320 and the watertight doo 322 may all be as shown in earlier Figs. 17 or 20. The port -stern gate 316 is used only for loading the port and central holds 305 and 306 of thε lowermost tier 301. A longitudinal bulkhead 323 divides the central hol 305 from the starboard hold 304, a bulkhead 324 dividεs most of the central hold 305 from the port hold 306, while a 1 strengthened archway 325 in line with the bulkhεad 324 pro- 2 vides beneath it a passageway 326 connecting these two holds 3 305 and 306. The transfer may be made with thε aid of water 4 jets, as described previously, or with winches, and winches 5 may be employed to aid in loading all of the lowermost holds 6 304, 305, and 306 with barges. 7 8 Thus, the central and port holds 305 and 306 are 9 loaded through the stern gate 316, the door 322, and the 0 passageway 326. So far as thε lowermost tier 301 is con- 1 cerned, the starboard stern gate 315 is used to load only 2 thε starboard hold 304! Normally, the lowermost tiεr 301 is 3 . thε first tiεr to be loaded and the last to be unloaded. 4 5 The intermediate tier 302 and the upper tier 303 are 6 loaded solely through the starboard stern gate 315 with the 7 aid of the barge lock 317. The port stern gate 316 is used 8 only for loading the holds 305 and 306 of. the lowεrmost tiεr 9 301. 0 1 . For the intermediate tier 302 (see Fig.35) the barge 2 lock 317 is operatεd basically as has been described in con- 23 nection with Figs. 3 and 21-24. The barges are loaded aboard 4 0 ne at a time and eithεr stowed in the starboard hold 307 or 5 transferred to one of the other two holds 308 and 309 and 6 stowed there. For this purpose there is a longitudinal bulk- 7 head 330 between the starboard hold 307 and the central hold 28 308 and an archway 331 with a passageway 332 which leads from 29 the starboard hold 307 to the central hold 308 and vice versa. 30 Similarly, there are two bulkheads 333 and 334 in line with 31 each other to separate most of the center hold 308 from the 32 port hold 309, and these are joined together by an archway 33 335 providing a passageway 336 for transfer between the two 34 holds 308 and 309. An archway 337 and a passageway 338 lead 35 into a supplemental center hold 340. The supplemental hold 36 340 stows one barge of the large size for which this vεssεl 37 300 is primarily dεsignεd. 1 Thε uppεrmost tiεr 303 (see Fig.34) is open to the sky; 2 in other words, the holds 310, 311, and 312 have no deck 3 covering them and are open to the sky. This has some advan- 4 tages, as will be shown later. In this instance, the lock 5 gate 320 is used to move barges into the starboard hold 310, 6 and therε may be a short longitudinal bulkhead 345 separatin 7 a portion of the hold 310 from the center hold 311; there ma 8 also be a short longitudinal bulkhead 346 separating the hol 9 311 from the port hold 312. There are no archεs hεre, and i 10 will bε notεd that there is never an arch above another arch ^-1 This strengthens the design. There are, however, adequate 12 passageways 347, 348, and 349 for lateral transfer from the 13 starboard hold 310 to the center hold 311 and from the cente " 14- hold 311 to the port hold 312. The port hold 312 extends ful 15 length and must be loaded before the completion of loading o 16 thε cεnter hold 311, the loading of which is completed befor 17 the starboard hold 310 is fully loaded. There is also a 18 supplemental center hold 350 which is loaded directly from 19 the barge lock 317, prefεrably aftεr the holds 310, 311 and 20 312 have been fully loaded. Finally, once the ship is other 21 wise fully loaded, a barge may be loaded into the barge lock 22 317 on the lowermost level and retainεd thεre. Hold-down de 23 vices are used on the barges on at least the lowest level. 24 25 The operation of the lock 317 and of the various 26 buoyancy tanks is the same as already has been described. 27 There are several advantages, howevεr, in this spεcial struc 28 ture. One is that one may use a small electrically power d 29 lock-tug 351 (sεe Fig. 41) inside the vessel 300 to place th 30 barges in position. (Alternatively, winches may be used and 31 water flow may be used in addition or separatεly as already 32 describεd.) Thε lock-tug 351, shown in Fig. 41, which can b 33 quite small, is built so that it can eithεr push, pull, or 34 attach to the side of a barge to move it. Thus, when a barg 35 has beεn transfεrred laterally through one of the passageway 36 326, 332, 336, 348, or 349,, which are notmuch longer than the 37 length of the barge, " the tug 351 may be attachεd to thε barg 38 and thε tug may move it forε or aft, depending on what is 1 desired, for a sufficient distance to enable the tug 351 to 2 get into position to push or pull the barge into its desired 3 stowage position. This little tug 351 is used solely inside 4 the vessel 300 and when not in use, may be liftεd by a crane 5 360 and stored on a deck 361. 6 7 Use of the tugboat 351 is illustrated in Fig. 37, 8 where its use with one barge 2B4 on the intermediate tier 302 9 is shown. After the gate 315 has been opened, the barge 2B4 10 Is floated into the lock 317, in position a.. The gate 315 is 11 closed, and water is sent into the lock to raise the barge up 12 to- the level of the intermediate tier 302. Then the gate 319 13 is opened, and the tugboat 351 is connected to the barge by 14. ropes and tows the barge into the hold 307 to position b. The 15 tugboat 351 is then loosed from the barge, and the barge is 16 shifted laterally to position c_ in the central hold 308, as by 17 water jets. The tugboat 351 is then attachεd (see Fig.42) as 18 by ropes 352 and 353 secured to its cruciform bitts 354 and 19 355 to cleats or kεvεls 356 and 357 along thε dεck of the 20 bargε, and the barge is moved far enough forward to enable the 21 tugboat 351 to get in behind the barge and push it forward to 22 the position ά. Again, the barge is laterally shifted, as by 23 water jets or otherwise, to position a in the hold 309. Again, 24 the tugboat 351 is connectεd by ropes to the kevels or cleats 25 on the barge and the barge is moved forward sufficiently to 26 enablε thε tugboat 351 to gat in front of it and push it aft 27 to position f. A final lateral shift moves thε bargε 2B4 into 28 thε final stowεd position g_ in the supplementary central hold 29 350. 30 31 The barges shown in positions in Figs 34, 35, and 36 32 have been numbered to reflect their final position. For this 33 purpose, the barge positions in the uppermost port hold 312 34 are numbered, from fore to aft, as 1C1, 1C2, 1C3, and 1C4; 35 those in the uppermost central hold 311 are numbered 1B1, 1B2, 36 and 1B3, with the barge in the supplementary central hold 350 37 numbered 1B4. The barges in the uppermost starboard hold are 38 numbered 1A1, 1A2, and 1A3. Similarly, the barges in the intermediate tier 302 are numbered: 2C1, 2C2, 2C3, 2C4 in the port hold 309; 2B1, 2B2, 2B3 in the central hold 308; the barge 2B4 is in the supplemεntary cεntral hold 340; and the barges 2A1, 2A2, and 2A3 are in the starboard hold. On the lowermost tier 301, barges 3C1, 3C2, and 3C3 are stored in the port hold 306, and the barge 3C4 is in the stowage area 321; the barges 3B1, 3B2, and 3B3, are in the central hold 305; the barges 3A1, 3A2, and 3A3 are in starboard hold 304; and the barge 3A4 is stored in the lock 317. Another advantage of the barge-carrier 300 is that on- top tier 303, very hεavily loaded barges with large size loads may be stored, as shown in Fig. 33. Thesε loads may be far too large to fit into lowermost or intermediate holds, but since the top holds are open to the sky, there is plenty of room there. Note the tanks 362 and 363 shown in Fig. 33. Limitation is determined solely by thε amount of clearance provided by the starboard stern gate 315. Since the barges are floated in down near the lowest level, the clearance may be made quite large. Beyond that, the lock 317 also is open to the sky; so once the barge is in the lock 317, the height of its load is no longer a factor. Furthermorε, being open to the sky, the top tier 303 may be loaded by cranes (such as the crane 360) or roll- on equipmεnt with ordinary loads or with containεr loads, whεn thεre are no barges to stow there or even if therε arε somε stowεd there, so long as space is available. A non-self-propelled vessel 400 (Figs. 43 to 47) The invention is not limited to self-propelled vehiclεs. A vεssel 400, shown in Figs. 43 to 47, has no en- ginε and no propelling mechanism. Instead it is intendεd to bε pullεd or pushed by an ocean-going tugboat 401. In fact, its stern 402 is provided with a keyway 403 into which the prow or bow 404 of a tugboat 401 can fit for engagεment into the vessel 400. O » WW The vessel 400 is generally like the vessel 300 so far as this invention is concerned, but there are some differences, one of them being that it can accomodate one more barge 3B4 on its lowermost tier 405 of holds 406, 407, and 408, as shown in Fig. 46. The barge 3B4 is loaded via a stem gate 410 (corresponding to the stern gate 316 of the vessel 300), a barge stowage area 411 (corresponding to the.. area 321) , a watertight door 412 (corresponding to thε water- tight door 322), the hold 408, a passageway 413, and the hold 407, which is extended rearwardly to provide a space 414 for the barge 3B4. ' The vessel 400 has an intermediate tier 415 of holds 416, 417, and 418, like the tier 302 except that the central hold 417 extends full length, and the loading of the barge 2B4 nearest the stern 410 is therefore more direct. A starboard stern gate 420, a lock 421, and lock gates 422, 423, and 424 are like their counterparts in the vessεl 300. Similarly, thε uppεrmost tiεr 425 of holds 426, 427 and 428 is generally like the tier' 303 except that the central hold 427 extends full length. The rearmost central barge 1B4 may be placed in its space either laterally or via the lock 424, as may the barge 1A4 beside it. A bow-loading vessel 450 (Figs. 48-50) The loading- and unloading need not be done at the stern, although that will often be preferrεd. As shown in Fig. 48, thε invention may use a vessel 450 having a visor type bow gate 451 leading into a lock 452, from which a lock gate 455 leads into an intermediate central hold 456. Similar arrangements lead into the uppermost hold, but the gate therε is not specifically illustrated, being like the gates 453 and 455, The lower gate 451 may, if desired, be backed up by a collision bulkhead like those shown in our U.S. Patent No. 4,135,468.- The central hold 456 on the intermediate level may be separated from a port hold 457 and a starboard hold 458 by respective stanchion bulkheads 459 and 460. In this instance (as in all the longitudinal bulkheads throughout this 1 specification), the bulkheads 459 and 460 do not need.to be 2 watertight and therefore may be made, as shown better in Fig 3 51, of a seriεs of separated H-beams 461, which may, if de- 4 sired be connected together by longitudinal aligning members 5 Watertightnεss is nevεr required of the longitudinal bulk- 6 heads. 7 Similarly, the central hold 454 in the lowermost 8 level may be separated from a port hold 465 and a starboard 9 hold 466 by stanchion bulkheads, or, as shown, by respective 10 plated bulkheads 467 and 468. As shown in more detail in 11 Fig. 52, these may comprise a pair of plates 469 and 470 12 securεd to stanchion beams 461 and with longitudinal 13. strengtheners 471. 14 Archεs 472, 473, 474, and 475 may bε stratεgically 15 locatεd in placε of bulkhεads at certain places to enablε 16 transfεr bεtwεen the central holds 454 and 456 and their re- 17 spεctivε holds 465, 466, 457, and 458. Thε bargε loading 18 operation is basically as described before, excεpt for use o 19 the bow end, the lock 452 being used in the same basic way a 20 the locks previously dεscribed. The uppermost tier of holds 21 476 may be open, as before. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodimεnts and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

Claims: 40. 1 1. A barge-carrying waterborne vessel having 2 a hull with rigid supporting and hull-reinforcing structure, 3 a bow, a stern, sidewalls providing a seriεs of buoyancy 4 compartmεnts, a hollow hull intεrior, and a first gate ar- 5 rangemεnt at one end of said vessel for flotation loading 6 and unloading of the hollow interior with a plurality of 7 barges, characterized in that said hull's hollow interior 8 defines a plurality of tiers of barge holds, one above the 9 other, each hold extending most of the length of said vessel 10 a loading passage between said first gate arrangemεnt and 11 said holds, a second.gate arrangement between the loading 12 passage and the lowermost said hold, and a system for sup- 13 plying water to and removing it from each said hold and said 1.4 loading passage separately, when all said gates are closed. 15 16 2. The vessel of claim 1 characterized by a 17 plurality of holds at each said tier, the holds being sep- 18 arated on each tiεr by longitudinal bulkheads. 19 20 3. The vessel of claim 2 characterized in that 21 the holds are vertically aligned in vertical rows from tier 22 to tier, said first gate arrangemεnt comprising a separate 23 gatε for each vertically aligned row, said loading passage 24 comprising a separate passage for each vertically aligned 25 row, with a separate second gate arrangement for each hold. 26 27 4. The vessel of claim 2 characterized by having 28 two tiers of holds and a single loading passage for both 29 said tiers of holds, said first gate arrangement comprising 30 a single gate, said loading passage being wide enough to 31 provide at its upper level, substantially level with the • 32 upper holds, an upper lateral transfer bay, wide enough to 33 load into each upper hold, and shifting apparatus for moving 34 a barge laterally in said upper transfer bay-, the lower por- 35 tion of said loading passage being wide enough to accommodat 36 a single barge only and a lower lateral transfer bay sepa- 37 rated from said loading passage by said second gate -arrange 38 mεnt, which constitutes a single gate, said lowεr transfer. 1 bay having shifting apparatus • for moving a bargε laterally 2 thereon. 3 4 5. The vessel of claim 4 characterized by a 5 single-barge-width storage bay between said second gate and 6 said lower transfer bay. 7 8 6. The vessel of claim 4 or 5 characterized in 9 that said loading passage is shaped as a central lower por- 10 tion with a bottom and sidewalls and a wider upper portion 11 having sidewalls joined to those of the lower portion by 12 shelves, and a retractable barge-support projectable out 13 from the upper portion of said sidewalls of the lower por- 1.4 tion substantially on the level of said shelves. 15 16 7. The vessel of any of claims 1 to 3 character- 17 ized in that therε arε three said tiers and a third gate 18 arrangement for the tier in between the upper and lower 19 tiers in betwεen the hold and the loading passage. 20 21 8. The vessel of any of claims 1 to 7 character- 22 izεd by having at each tier a gate between the loading pas- 23 sage and each hold. . • 24 25 9. The vessel of any of claims 1 to 8 character- 26 ized by having a barge-retention system in said hold for 27 holding each said barge down against the bottom of its said 28 hold, for preventing movement of the barges, and for εnabl- 29 ing exchange of buoyancy between each said barge in said 30 lower hold and said vessεl when said lower hold is flooded. 31 32 10. The vessel of any of claims 1 to 9 character- 33 ized by a barge-moving system inside said hollow interior, 34 comprising a plurality of flow-creating apparatus for caus- 35 ing flow of water to move barges in each said hold in one 36 direction during flotation loading and in the other direc- 37 tion during flotation unloading. 38 1 11. The vessel of any ' of claims 1-10 character- 2 ized by a plurality of charge tanks, one directly below 3 said loading passage and at least one on each side of said 4 loading passage, said system providing for transferring 5 water between said charge tanks and said loading passage 6 and also for transferring water between said loading pas- 7 sage and the sea and for transferring water between said 8 charge tanks and the sea. 9 10 12. The vessel of claim 11 characterized by trim 11 tanks at the bow end of the vessεl and a systεm for trans- 12 ferring water from the sea thereinto and water from there 13 into the sea. 1.4 " 15 13. A barge-carrying flotation-loaded waterbornε 16 vεssel having a hollow interior defining a plurality of ver 17 tically disposed tiers of longitudinal barge holds, each wi 18 apparatus to supply barge-flotation water thereto, characte 19 ized by at least one loading lock at one end of the vessel, 20 a pumping sytem for supplying water to and removing it from 21 each said lock, a gate for opening each said lock to the se 22 for flotation loading and unloading of a barge, and a plur- 23 ality of separate lock gates, each connecting a said lock t 24 one said hold. 25 26 14. The vessel of claim 13 characterized by havi 27 threε said tiers with three longitudinal barge holds on eac 28 said tier vertically aligned with the holds of the other 29 tiers, and three said locks. 30 31 15. The vessel of claim 14 characterized in that 32 the end gates comprise a transom at said stern, four spacεd 33 apart gate posts, one on each side of the transom, extεndin 34 above said transom, and two others spaced between them to 35 provide three gate openings, a gate slidable vertically in 36 betweεn each successive pair of said gate posts and in each 37 said gate opening, and opening and closing means for .raisin 38 and lowering said gate. ^ -- • ^ " u O j ! * WWII 1 16. The vessel of claim 13 characterized in that 2 there is a single lock and a single end gate comprising a 3 stern transom having a gate opening therethrough between 4 sidewalls, a pair of spaced-apart gate posts extεnding above 5 said transom in line with the sidewalls of the gate opening, 6 ' a gate slidable vertically in bεtween said gate posts and in 7 said gate opening, and an opening and closing device for 8 raising and lowering said gate. 9 10 17. The vessel of any of claims 13 to 16 charac- 11 terized in that each lock gate for an upper hold comprises 12 a pair of gate portions hinged-together about a vertical 13 axis, the vessεl having a rεcess to accommodate the opened 1.4 gate so that opening does not narrow the barge passage, so 15 as to enable folding of the portions together and into the 16 recess, one gate portion being vertically pivotally sup- 17 ported, and a power device for swinging the lock gate to 18 one .side about the pivot and into the recess while folding. 19 the gate portions together. 20 21 18. The vessel of any of claims 13 to 17 charac- 22 terized in that there is a single lock gate for the lower 23 hold and wherein that said lock gate comprises two separatε 24 but meeting laterally slidable membεrs, and rεcεsses in 25 said vessel for receiving the slidable members when that 26 lock gate is opened. 27 28 . 19. The vessel of any of claims 13 to 18 charac- 29 terized by a series of charge tanks at the stern end of 30 said vessel, one below and some to each side of said lock 31 or locks, said pumping system enabling transfer of water 32 between said lock and said charge tanks. 33 34 20. The vessel of any of claims 13 to 19 charac- 35 terized by trim tanks at the bow end of said vessel and 36 apparatus for transferring water betweεn said trim tanks 37 and the sea. 21. The vessel of any of claims 13 to 20 charac- terized by barge-moving means in each of said holds and the associated transfer area thereof. 22. A waterborne vessel for carrying very heavy loads on deck, including in combination a hull with rigid supporting and hull-reinforcing structure, a bow, a stern, and sidewalls providing a series of buoyancy compartments, said hull having a hollow interior hold and a strong well- supported main deck, characterized by a flotation loading system at one end of said hull having a passage with a deck and walls extending up thereabout, special buoyancy and charge tanks adjacent the loading passage comprising an up- per tank and a lower tank on each side of the loading pas- sage and also a tank beneath the loading passage deck, and a water circulation systεm for passing seawatεr directly into and out from said loading passage and directly into and out from each of said special buoyancy and charge tanks and also directly between said loading passage and each of said special buoyancy and charge tanks. 23. The vessel of claim 22 characterized by addi- tional buoyancy tanks at the opposite end of said vessel, and a pumping system for pumping seawater directly into and out from said additional buoyancy tanks. 24. A method for use in a deepwater port for flotation loading of barges aboard a carrier vessel having buoyancy tanks and two tiers of barge-carrying holds, one tier above the other, each said hold being connectεd by a normally closed inner gate to a loading passage which is connectεd to the sea by an outer, normally closed, gate, comprising the steps of: (1) placing water inside each hold of the upper tier and its loading passage at sufficient depth for floating barges into each hold of the upper tier, (2) shipping water into the buoyancy tanks to bring t.he watεrline of the vessel to the level of the water inside the holds of the upper tier, (3) opening the inner gates O 1 connεcting each hold of the upper tier to its loading pas- 2 sage, (4) opening the outer gate or gates to place each 3 loading passage in communication with the sea, (5) floating 4 barges into each loading passage and thence into the holds 5 of the upper tier until those holds are loaded, (6) closing 6 the inner gatεs bεtween the holds of the upper tier and 7 their loading passage, (7) closing the outer gate or gates 8 to isolate the loading passage or passages from the sea, 9 (8) drying out said upper tier of holds and placing water 10 inside the holds of the lower tier, (9) replacing water 11 inside said buoyancy tanks with air to raise said vessel 12 to a waterline substantially thε same as the water level 13 Inside said lower holds, while lowering the water level 1.4 inside each said loading passagε to the level of the water 15 inside the lower holds, (10) opening the inner gates between 16 each lower hold and its loading passage, (11) opening the 17 outer gate or gates, (12) floating-barges into each said 18 loading passage and thence into each said lower hold until 19 that hold is loaded, (13) closing those inner gates, (14) 20 closing the outer gate or gates, and (15) drying out said 21 lowεr holds and the loading passage or passages. 22 23 25. The method of claim 24 characterized by 24- including the step, after step (13) and before step (14) 25 of floating at least one barge into the loading passage 26 means and later receiving it there. 27 28 26. The method of either of claims 24 or 25, 29 wherein said loading passage includes a shelf at about the 30 level of said upper tier, characterized by including the 31 step after step (6) and before step (7) of loading at 32 least one barge on said shelf and pro εcting out from 33 beneath said shelf means a retractable support before 34 settling the barge on said shelf. 35 36 27. The mεthod of any of claims 24 to 26 charac- 37 terizεd by including the step of securing all the barges on 38 the lower tier and holding them down with force sufficient OMPI 1 to enablε transfer of buoyancy between said barges and said 2 vessel when said lower tier is flooded. 3 4 28. A method for use in a shallow-water port for 5 flotation loading of barges aboard a carrier vessεl having 6 a plurality of tiers of a plurality of barge-carrying holds, 7 one tier above another, and a loading passage between each 8 hold and an end of the vessel, with a normally closed inner 9 gate between each hold and its loading passage and a norm- 10 ally closed outer gate between each loading passage and the 11 sea, comprising the steps of: (1) placing water inside each 12 loading passage sufficient to float a barge at the waterline 13 of the vessel, (2) placing water inside each upper hold suf- 1.4 ficient to float a bargε, (3) opεning εach outεr gatε to 15 place its loading passage in communication with the sea, (4) 16 floating a barge from the sea into the loading passage, (5) 17 closing the outer gate to isolate the loading passage from 18 the sea, (6) raising the water level in the loading passage 19 to placε the barge therεin on a lεvel with an upper said 20 hold, (7) opening the inner gate between said loading pas- 21 sage and said upper hold, (8) floating the barge into said 22 upper hold, (9) closing the inner gate between the loading 23 passage and said upper hold, (10) lowering the water level 4 in said loading passage to the vessel's waterline, and (11) 25 repeating steps ( . 2)-(10) until said upper holds are loaded, 26 (12) pumping the upper holds dry, (13) opening the inner 27 gates between each lower hold and its loading passage, (14) 28 opening the outer gate, (15) floating barges via said load- 29 ing passage into said lower hold until said lower holds arε 30 loadεd, (16) closing the inner gate between each said lower 31 hold and its loading passagε, (17) floating a barge into 32 each loading passage, (18) closing the outer gate, and (19) 33 pumping the lower hold and loading passage dry 34 35 29. The method of claim 28 wherein there is a 36 single said loading passage having a shelf at about the 37 level of said upper tier, characterized by including.the 38 steps after step (16) and beforε step (17) of (a) floating 1 a barge into said loading passage, (b) closing the outer 2 gate, (c) raising the water level in said loading passage 3 above said shelf, (d) locating the barge on shelf means, 4 (e) lowεring the water level in said loading passage to 5 said waterline level, and (f) opening said outer gate. 6 7 30. The method of claim 29 wherein there is a 8 series of lock charge tanks, one beneath said loading 9 passage or passages and at least one on each side thereof, 10 characterized by including the steps of εxchanging the 11 watεr in steps (10) and (6) on each repetition, (1) on 12 repetitions also, and in steps (c) and (e) between said 13 loading passage and said lock charge tanks, as appropriate. 1.4 " 15 31. The method of claim 30 wherein, at the oppo- 16 site end of the vessel from the loading passage or passages 17 therε arε lock trim tanks, charactεrizεd by including the 18 steps of varying the amount of water in the lock trim tanks 19 from empty to various amounts sufficient to keep the vessel 20 in trim and horizontal at all times during the stated method 21 steps. 22 23 32. The method of any of claims 28 to 31 wherein 24 there are two tiers of barge-carrying holds, each tier having 25 a plurality of said holds, and -a single loading passage be- 26 tween the holds and an end of the ship, with a normally 27 closed inner gate between the loading passage and each of the 28 holds and a normally closed outer gate between the loading 29 passage and the sea, said loading passage on the lower level 30 being wide enough to accommodate a single barge and having 31 a shelf on the level of the upper tier of holds, the loading 32 passage above the shelf being wider than a plurality of said 33 barges, there also being a transfer bay on the lower tiεr 34 between the inner gate and the lower holds, wider than a 35 plurality of said barges, comprising replacing the steps (12) 36 to (20) with the following steps: (12) pumping the upper 37 holds dry and placing water in said transfer bay and ' said 38 lower holds sufficient to float a barge, (13) opening the -£ΪJ IA OMP 1 gate between said transfer bay and said loading passagε, 2 (14) opening " the outer gate, (15) floating barges via said 3 loading passage and transfer bay into said lower holds until 4 said all lower holds and the transfer bay arε loadεd as de- 5 sirεd, (16) closing the inner gate betweεn said transfεr bay 6 and said loading passage, (17) floating a barge into said 7 loading passage, (18) closing the outer gate, (19) pumping 8 the lower hold and transfer bay dry, (20) raising the water 9 level in said loading passage to lift the barge therein 10 above said shelf means, (21) lowering the water level in 11 said loading passage to the waterline level, while lowering 12 the lifted barge supported on said shelf means, (22) opening 13 said outer gate, (23) floating a barge into said loading 1.4 passage, (.24) closing the outer gate, and (25) pumping the 15 loading passage dry. 16 17 33. The method of claim 32 characterized by, 18 after step (.6) and before step (8) , shifting the barge 19 laterally to align it with a chosen said upper hold. 20 21 34. The method of claim 32 comprising at step 22 (15) , laterally shifting each barge in said transfer bay 23 between a generally central position to one in line with a 24 selεcted lower hold. 25 26 35. The method of either of claims 33 or 34 char- 27 actεrized in that said shifting involves projecting water 28 jets on the sidewalls of the barge. 29 30 36. The method of any of claims 28 to 35 wherein 31 said lower holds lie well below waterline, characterized by, 32 in steps (13) to (15), the steps of: (a) opening the outer 33 gate, (b) floating a barge into said loading passage, (c) 34 closing the outer gate, (d) lowering the level of water in 35 said loading passage to the level of that in said lower 36 holds, (e) opening the lower inner gate, (f) floating the 37 barge into said transfer bay, (g) laterally shifting -the 38 barge to place it in lines with a sεlected lower hold, OM 1 (h) floating the barge into the selected lower hold, (i) 2 closing the lower inner gate, (j) raising the level of water 3 in the loading passage to the vessel's waterline, (k) re- 4 peating steps (a) to (j) until said lower holds are loaded, 5 and (1) floating a barge into said transfer bay. 6 7 37. The method of any of claims 32 to 36 charac- 8 terized by including between steps (20) and (21) the step 9 of projecting out horizontally from beneath said shelf a 10 series of retractable supports for the barge to rest on 11 while resting on the shelf. 12 13 38. A method for loading a very heavy and volu- 1.4 minous cargo item onto the deck of a vessel having a series 15 of large capacity buoyancy tanks along its length and also 16 having a gate at one end leading into a flotation-loading 17 hold, comprising the steps of loading the item onto a rolling 18 support on a trimmable barge, trimming the bargε to have a 19 fore-and-aft trim angle between 1° and 5°, trimming the 20 vessel at the same angle by admitting water to said flota- 21 tion-loading hold and to adjacent buoyancy tanks, while keep- 22 ing air in buoyancy tanks at the opposite end of the vessel, 23 to obtain substantially the same angle of trim as the barge, 24 bringing the gate end of the vessel against the bow of the 25 barge and with its deck at the same height above water, roll- 26 ing the cargo on said rolling support from the barge to the 27 vessel's deck and to a desired location on the deck, and then 28 retrimming the vessel to horizontal and adjusting its water- 29 line to its desired waterline. 30 31 39. A method for loading a very heavy and volu- 32 minous cargo item from a pier onto the deck of a vessel 33 having a series of large capacity buoyancy tanks along its 34 length and also having a gate at one end leading into a 35 flotation-loading hold, comprising the steps of placing the 36 item on a self-propelled rollable support, placing a ramp 37 on the edge of said pier having an upward inclination- of 38 1° to 5°, ballasting and trimming the vessel to place the deck at its gate end at substantially the level of the upper end of the ramp and the vessel ' at a trim angle substantially the same as that of the ramp, bringing the vessel's gate end against the upper edge of the ramp, and rolling the item on said rollable support up the ramp, into the vessel's deck, and therealong to a desired location on the deck, and then retrimming and reballasting the vessel to a proper seagoing waterline and trim. 40. A waterborne vessel having a hull with an interior hold, characterized by a stern transom at the stern of the vessel having a ga-te opening therethrough between sidewalls leading into said interior hold, a pair of spaced- apart gate posts εxtεnding above said transom in line with the sidewalls of the gate opening, a gate slidable verticall in between said gate posts and in said gate opening, and apparatus for raising and lowering said gate. 41. A waterborne vessel having a hull with an interior hold, and a gate in said hold dividing the hold into two portions, characterized by a pair of gate portions hinged together about a vertical axis so as to enable fold- ing of the portions together, one said gate portion being vertically pivotally supported, apparatus for swinging said gate to one side about the pivot while folding the gate por- tions. together, and a recess in the hold to accommodate the opened gate so that opening does not narrow the barge pas- sage. 42. A waterborne vessel having a hull with an in- terior hold and a gatε in said hold dividing the hold into two portions, characterized by said gate having two sepa- rate but meeting laterally slidable members and by recesses in said vessel's hold for receiving the slidable members. 43. A barge-carrying waterborne vessεl having a hull with a hollow interior, characterized by three tiers of longitudinally extεnding barge holds, in said interior, _ O 1 one above the other, each tier having three such holds, one 2 hold on each side and a central hold in between, the holds " 3 of each tier being separated from each other by longitudinal 4 bulkheads, said hull having a stern end with a central εngine 5 compartment in line with said central hold of the lowermost 6 said tier and in between the two side holds of the lowermost 7 said tier, a first stern gate at said stern in line with one 8 said side hold of said lowermost tier for flotation loading 9 and unloading thereof, a second stern gate at said stern in 10 line with the other side hold of said lowermost tier, for flo¬ ll tation loading and unloading thereof, that said hold having 12 its bulkhead provided with a lateral passage between it and 13 said lowermost central hold, a first lock gate spaced longi- 1.4 tudinally from said first stern gate in said lowermost hold, 15 with a barge lock in between it and said first stern gate, 16 a second lock gate above said first lock gate between said 17 lock and a hold of the intermediate tier of holds, and a 18 third lock gate above said second lock gate between said 19 lock and a hold of the uppermost tier of holds, said intεr- 20 mediate and uppermost tiers of holds each having a passage 21 or passages through its bulkheads at suitable locations for 22 enabling lateral transfer of barges from one said hold to 23 another. 24 25 44. A barge-carrying non-self-propelling water- 26 borne vessel having a hull with a hollow interior, charac- 27 terized by; three tiers of longitudinally extending barge 28 holds, one above the other ' in said interior, each tier having 29 three such holds, one hold on each side and a central hold in 30 between, the holds of the lowermost and intermediate tiers 31 being separated from each other by longitudinal bulkheads, 32 said hull having a stern end with a central bearing surface 33 for engagεment by the bow of a pushing tugboat, a first 34 stern gate at said stern in line with one said side . hold of 35 said lowermost tier for flotation loading and unloading. 36 thεrεof, a sεcond stern gate at said stern in line with the 37 other side hold of said lowermost tier for flotation -loading 38 and unloading thereof, that said hold having its bulkhead 1 provided with a lateral passage betweεn it and said lower- 2 most central hold, a first lock gate spaced longitudinally 3 from said first stern gate in said lowermost hold, with a 4 barge lock in between it and said first stern gate second 5 lock gate above said first lock gate between said lock and 6 a hold of the intermediate tier of holds, and third lock 7 gate above said second lock gate between said lock and a hol 8 of the uppermost tier of holds, said intermediate tier of 9 holds having a passage through its bulkheads at suitable 10 locations for enabling lateral transfer of barges from one 11 said hold to another. 12 13 45. The vessel of claim 43 or 44 charactεrizεd 14. by an additional gatε spaced longitudinally from said sεcond 15 gatε and in line with its said hold and providing between 16 said second and third gates a barge-stowage passage. 17 18 46. The vessel of claim 43 or 44 characterized by 19 said lock and said uppermost hold being open on top. 20 21 47. The vessel of claim 43 or 44 characterizεd by 22 a supplementary central hold over said central engine co - 23 part ent at εach of said intεrmediatε and uppεrmost tiεrs, 24 each separated from said central hold of its tier, with a 25 passage for transfering a barge laterally thereinto. 26 27 48. The vessel of claim 43 characterized by 28 having a small electric-powered tugboat in said vessel for 29 aiding in moving the barges within said vessεl both longi- 30 tudinally and laterally. 31 32 49. A barge-carrying waterborne vessel having a 33 hull with a hollow interior and characterized by three tiεrs 34 of longitudinally extending barge holds, one above the other 35 each tiεr having three such holds, namely, a port hold, a 36 starboard hold, and a central hold, each extending most of 37 the length of said Vessel, the holds of each tier being 38 separated from each other by longitudinal bulkheads, the O 1 uppermost said tier being generally open at the top and 2 having its bulkheads interrupted to provide passage for 3 lateral transfer of barges from one hold to another, a 4 first gate at said bow in line with said central- holds for 5 flotation loading and unloading thereof, a barge lock aft 6 of said bow gate and in line with said central holds, a 7 second gate, at the opposite end of said lock from said 8 first gate and in line with and leading into said lowermost 9 central hold, said lock also providing between said first 10 and second gate a bargε-stowage passage, a third gate at the 11 opposite end of said lock from said first gate and in line 12 with and leading into said intermεdlatε central hold, said 13 barge lock being open at its upper end, and a fourth gate 1.4 above ' said third gate betweεn said lock and thε cεntral hold 15 of the uppermost tier of holds, each said tier of holds 16 having a passage system through its bulkheads at suitable 17 locations for enabling lateral transfer of barges from each 18 said central hold to its adjacent starboard and port holds. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 ^υ EA OMPI

Inventors: KIRBY W, SEYMOUR D
Applicants: KIRBY W, SEYMOUR D
Application year: 1980
Main classification: B63B35
IPC codes: B63B25, B63B35