Patent ID: 8327785

Claim:
A ship comprising a hull, a navigating bridge, a crew accommodation quarters, a weather deck, a front part, a rear part, a central part, and first, second and third cargo hold sections, wherein: said front part of said ship comprises said first cargo hold section for accommodating a cargo in the form of containers, said first cargo hold section being defined, inter alia, by said hull and said weather deck, said weather deck being located at a first height above a baseline of said ship and comprising access hatches or openings providing access to said first cargo hold section, said rear part of said ship comprises (a) a shore ramp, or a space suitable for receiving an external shore ramp, allowing vehicles to board said ship, (b) said second cargo hold section for accommodating a cargo in the form of containers, said second cargo hold section being defined, inter alia, by said hull and said weather deck, said weather deck being provided at a second height above said baseline of said ship and comprising access hatches or openings providing access to said second cargo hold section, and (c) a passageway extending from said shore ramp, or a space suitable for receiving an external shore ramp, to said third cargo hold section, said central part of said ship comprises said third cargo hold section, inter alia, being defined by an uppermost deck for accommodating vehicles, a lowermost deck for accommodating vehicles, and walls or bulkheads extending in a transverse direction of said ship, said uppermost deck being located at least 1.5 meters above said weather deck provided in said rear part of said ship, said lowermost deck is arranged below said first and second heights of said weather deck, and said walls or bulkheads have one or more steps such that said uppermost deck is shorter in a longitudinal direction of said ship than said lowermost deck, said third cargo hold section comprises one or more tween decks for accommodating vehicles, said tween decks are at least partially interconnected by ramps, and said third cargo hold section being arranged substantially symmetrically amidships of said ship, wherein said navigating bridge of said ship is arranged in said central part of said ship, above said third cargo hold section, and wherein said crew accommodation quarters is arranged in said central part of said ship, above said third cargo hold section.