Shipbucket

Hello. This is my first near-totally original vessel. I only used some parts from official parts sheets and closely looked at some different propellers people made while making my own design.

This is an alternate universe ship.

This ship is a 33,000 TEU container ship work-in-progress. It might actually be larger. I dunno! I ended up making a custom template so I could fit it.

Here are its currents specs (WIP)
465~'ish meters long
Powered by two nuclear reactors.
Carries something around 33k TEU of containers.
Utilizes a drone for navigational aid, inspections and very light transport (it has a small trunk for storage)
Crew of around 70 - relatively large due to extra reactor staff and security staff for the reactor.

I plan to also make a 'militarized' variant with some anti-piracy armament. Not hoses and pain rays, but .50cals and maybe an anti-air gun along with some sort of TOW missile anecdote.

Here is the WIP:



I'm really proud of the hull shading. ^^

Looks nice

A few questions ?
- How many screws ? I would want more than 1 with nuclear (maybe a drop down backup forward to get you home and do the side turning ?) and why 2 reactors rather than 1 big and backup diesels (could you can 1 + ie CNOD ?)

- What about a pad forward on bow for drone (with hangar) and proper helicopters (visiting) ? (big area and its high up over any waves anyway)

- Why the accommodation block at extreme stern, would 2/3 not be better ? and would you not want it to be next to the reactors that I presume are under the containers amidships ?

- Why the Nuclear reactor ? (Cant think of many uses that require one maybe ice harden it as that might need massive power ?)

My recommendation would be to move the superstructure to a midships position around the reactors. As for the reactors, I'd use a unit configuration (Reactor-Turbine Room-Reactor-Turbine room) with an electric drive train running two propellers to provide redundancy, and to remove the space that would otherwise have to be dedicated to the otherwise very long drive shafts.

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𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐍𝐄𝐓- 𝑻𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆

Right now working with 2 screw, I was originally debating 4 azipod's but couldn't really figure out how to justify those.

I was going to do 2 nuclear reactors partially because the company that builds them wants to produce larger numbers of reactors, partially so there is redundancy and partially because the company that builds them isn't as good with large scale reactors. It was also considered better to have 2 proven designs instead of one new, larger unproven design. The main justification for reactors is that this ships country of origin is really big on nuclear.

The ship also has backup diesels that I didn't mention. There is also a small tertiary set of solar cells to ensure that comms, navigation aids and other small scale critical systems stay powered. I am not sure if the solar cells can provide enough power to turn the rudder, but that would be nice. So we are looking at 2 nuclear plants, backups diesels and solar power tertiary systems.

The superstructure was located there based on a design study for a nuclear powered ship I read about. But that ship design study was for a small 'feeder' transport for about 1000 TEU, not the giant I have made. I am still debating the idea of giving it a true helipad.

Heres an update:

there are a few problems with this ship though.......
- the hull shading suggests an extremely blocky stern.
- the lack of bilge keels worries me.
- the single (or 2) lifeboats aft won't be enough
- the distance between your reactors (which have to be amidships due to the weight of them) is very far from your accomodations and lifeboats both. if something goes wrong, on a ship this size, nobody will be able to get there in time..... or get away.
- the line of sight over the containers is very bad as it is. regulations IIRC state 1.5 times the length of the ship you have to be able to see what is on the water. with the current setup, this will be closer to 50 times or more, in my estimation
- dual propellers means a dual skeg. I am not certain if I have seen such a big skeg (with thrusters in it) being duplicated. it might be better to have the shafts emerge from the bottom (like in warships) and have a large central skeg for the thrusters and to let the keel run straight all the way to the stern.
- I am not certain about the purpose of that (quite big) crane.
- the delivery helicopter seems not woth the expenses (due to the short range you win only a few hours, of which more can be won a lot cheaper by taking a plane in the first place.
- the small helipad is in a very dangerous position (variable wind due to containers and superstructure nearby) in addition, if you have a helipad, make it a bit bigger and make it usable for evac as well.
- which set of rules did you use for the hull shading? I see some aspects of taking the line at 90 degrees and some of taking it at 45 degrees.
- take a good look at the guidelines how to do the shading under overhangs, you went a bit away from the standard shipbucket style.

all in all, not a bad work, and I complement the effort that went into it

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Drawings are credited with J.Scholtens
I ask of you to prove me wrong. Not say I am wrong, but prove it, because then I will have learned something new.
Shipbucket Wiki admin

Thanks, this thing took me hours and hours, but it was a big learning experience for any future ships I might make.

The stern I based off a triple E. Which also lacks bilge keels and if the tower is located rear, could accommodate 6-8 life boats. It also has the two props.

As for the other issues, I will work on them. I am still making decisions about the heli-pad, plus I figure it needed a large crane as it is so high above the water line but I guess that wouldn't really matter. As for visibility... yeah it seems everyone wants me to move that tower. ^^

Definitely tried to follow the rules as closely as possible, but seeing as its my first real big project I might need specifics as to what I did wrong as I just don't have an eye for the little things yet.

note that the triple E is an relatively slow ship, and if you go for nuclear there are benefits in making it fast. your bow has a quite fast shape if I see it correct, while the stern has not, so at least you'll have to match the 2
you don't want all the lifeboats in one place on a ship this size, but it all depends on the size of your crew. the triple E IIRC is sailed with only 12 people on board? then 2 20 people lifeboats (one on each side of the superstructure) is plenty
2 props makes sense, but having stern thrusters trough them does not some sources seem to have the tripple E with bilge keels and some not
the big question is what you want the crane to do the alternative is removing about 1/3th of your deck load of containers. putting the deckhouse more forward would solve about half the abovementioned issues though
the overhang shading. we shade with a single pixel of darker shade under the overhangs, sometimes with 1-2-3 light shaded lines underneath it to accentuate shapes. right now you have big blobs of shade under each overhang.

EDIT: I am not certain if those are the bilge keels or supports under the hull blocks visible under the bilge in this picture http://wlstest.lbinordic.com/wp-content ... 4252-n.jpg

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Drawings are credited with J.Scholtens
I ask of you to prove me wrong. Not say I am wrong, but prove it, because then I will have learned something new.
Shipbucket Wiki admin

I think I will re-work the main tower. I will push it forward. The question is, how far forward? Directly above the reactors, about 2/3rds the way up or all the way at the front? Ive seen lots of concept designs put it all the way up front while others put it in those other positions.

I will make the butt look a little better. ^^ More sleek and fast. Another advantage of the reactors is no massive fuel bunkers. Only small reserve bunkers for the reserve engines.

As for the crane, not sure! I was thinking maybe it helps load small non-container cargo into the rear of the ship. Or acts as an elevator for people trying to board the ship at sea.

The Triple E has stern thrusters and the same engine layout, one of them had a huge leak a couple years ago.

It is a nice effort, undoubtedly had taken some time to make.
Apart from the above issues, I'll point some more (I'm by no means an expert on nuclear propulsion )
First you'll need some sort of a hatch for the removal of spent fuel rods and replacing them (refuelling)
A more centrally situated bridge will give an enormous benefit for forward field view.
Stern thrusters? IMHO no.
The bridge structure as it is looks wrong to me, it will be better to be more enclosed and more forward
Some more electronics. Your ship is surprisingly devoid of any of the usual electronics associated with a modern container ship (and I'm also no expert on those)
Any way, don't feel discouraged, as you have made a commendable effort, and let me just welcome you aboard.

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Thank you Kim for the crest

"Never fear to try on something new. Remember that the Titanic was built by professionals, and the Ark by an amateur"

Alright, here is an update. Tower is now forward, stern is now more attractive, crane is tinier and I trimmed the tower down to only remove one set of cranes. Capacity might have actually grown due to that. Still need to add a heli-pad (added a heli from a parts sheet to get an idea of how big it has to be) and it needs a new set of lifeboats.