Side loader (ship type)
Sideloaders are ships for quick cargo pallet handling when the cargo cannot be loaded and unloaded via the upper deck but through the side walls. After the introduction of the pallets, this principle was also applied to some refrigerated ships , with the advantage that this resulted in a free deck. This type of load exchange is ideal for transporting containers or refrigerated containers for which a free deck is now available.
Around 50 to 60 reefer vessels of the global total fleet of around 1,200 reefer vessels (larger than 100,000 cbft) are side loaders. It is mainly the smaller ships, but there are also some larger ones, such as the reefer ships of the Cala class , which were extended at Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven .