In the 1960s, the American shipbuilding engineer Jerome L. Goldman developed the LASH system and founded the Lighter Aboard Ship Corporation to market the patented system . The background to the development was the very long port lay times that were customary at the time, which should be shortened with the high throughput of the LASH system of over 1000 tons per hour. Even before the first LASH ships Acadia Forest and Atlantic Forest were put into service in 1969 and 1970, several US shipping companies ordered a series of eleven LASH ships from the Avondale shipyard in New Orleans. This began in 1970 with the construction of the series. The first three ships of the type, each costing US $ 28.5 million, were delivered in 1973 to the Delta Line shipping company from New Orleans, which operated them as the Delta Mar class . 1974 followed three identical ships for the Waterman Steamship Corporation in Mobile, the unit price of 27.9 million US dollars each was somewhat cheaper. After that, the Avondale shipyard in 1974/75 finally delivered three units to Central Gulf Lines , also based in New Orleans , which had an even lower construction price of 27.5 million US dollars per unit.
Two of the ships are still in the Ready Reserve Force , which is maintained by the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD). They are two of 48 RRF ships in its “Sealift Program Office”.
Technical data and special features
The seven cargo holds of the ships, four of them in front of the engine room, are divided into a total of 18 cells for stowing barges and containers. In order to achieve an optimal cargo hold volume, the deckhouses are far forward and the engine rooms of the ships are as far aft as technically possible. The barges are taken over at the stern using a 460 megapond gantry crane. Loading and unloading with 20-foot containers - the so-called TEU ( Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit ) - and 40-foot containers FEU (Forty-foot Equivalent Unit), can be done by a 30-megapond gantry crane on both the port side as well as on the starboard side. In the double-walled hull hull, between the longitudinal bulkhead of the hold and the actual outer skin, there are water, fuel and oil tanks. The ships are powered by a twin-shaft geared turbine with an output of 23,536 kW. The on-board supply of electrical energy is ensured by a 2000 kW turbo or diesel generator. The living quarters for the crew are located on the main 1st and 2nd deck of the superstructure. The on-board catering for the crew is delivered in special 10-foot containers and taken over by a separate slewing crane on the starboard side.
The ships
MARAD Design C9-S-81d
Surname
IMO no.
Shipping company
Build number
completion
Later names and whereabouts
Delta Mar
7304792
Delta Line
1941
July 12, 1973
1987 Cape Farewell , American Mar ; Ready Reserve Fleet (RRF)
↑ The ships of the Ready Reserve Force are owned by the civilian United States Maritime Administration and are maintained and crewed by it, but are subordinate to the Military Sealift Command if they are activated.
