Dynamic new ramp gives military cargo vessel a lift

PORTSMOUTH

The Cape Rise left its home at the mouth of Scotts Creek on Monday, on the way to pick up Marine cargo for the war in Afghanistan.

The ship, a roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel, was already a useful machine, with the ability to carry anything in the U.S. military's inventory. It has 176,000 square feet of cargo space spread across five decks, allowing it to haul items commercial ships cannot, including M1A1 tanks and oversized helicopters.

Now it has a new feature to make loading all that cargo easier: a massive stern ramp that can be lowered by a single person, thanks to computer-controlled hydraulics.

The new articulated, three-section ramp can support up to 160 tons of cargo. It operates by means of a steel cable, 1-inch thick and more than half a mile long, that spools from one drum mounted high on the ship's stern, down to the ramp, under it and back up the other side to a second spool.

This "endless loop" controls the ramp's vertical and side-to-side positions, allowing it to slew 33 degrees to each side of the centerline. This means the ship can moor directly alongside a pier, giving it access to many more ports worldwide.

Hugh Yarbrough the ship's chief engineer, says the ramp "is all about utility."

The older, fixed stern ramp took three of the crew several hours to lower and position, because they had to manually operate mechanical locks and antiquated equipment. The new ramp can be lowered in 30 minutes, he said.

The ramp was installed at North Florida Shipyards in Jacksonville and completed in September for $9.1 million.

The ship and its sister craft, the Cape Race and Cape Ray, were built in Japan in 1977, for a British ferry company. By the start of Operation Desert Storm, the three ships were owned by Saudi Arabia, which leased them to the United States.

The United States, which was using crane-loaded ships at the time, was impressed with the ships' ease and speed of loading and bought them in 1993. They were reflagged, renamed and assigned to the Maritime Administration as part of its Ready Reserve Force.

The Cape Rise operates under contract with Keystone Shipping on behalf of the U.S. Transportation Command and the Navy's Military Sealift Command. Its crew of 28 merchant mariners can be ordered to deploy on four days' notice.

While much of the ship's work is military, it also has responded to natural disasters, acting as a launching pad for first responders during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Gary Hill who has captained the Cape Rise since 2000, is happy with the new ramp.

"It doesn't require a lot of external support," he said.

He's also practical.

"We're hoping this brings us a lot more business."

Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com