Hi there,
I am thinking of possibilities to improve on "perfection" due to new EU regulations coming our way so I came up with this idea. Let me explain...
In the 50's on the Danube was introduced this towing system for various barges, floating hotels etc. It has worked flawlessly ever since but now the EU regulations are threatening my business. We operate since 25 years now these floating hotels tugged by tug boats via two ropes as seen in the pictures attached. On board the hotel there can be up to 20 guests plus 4 crew members and on the tug two crew members.
The floating hotel is flat bottom with a max draft of about 60cm, a beam of 5m, 32m long with a 4m wind surface above the water.
The tugboat is about 16m long with 3.5m beam and a draft of 1.2m capable of towing the convoy with about 10km/h (depending on current and wind) using its old Russian tank engine - 150hp@1800 RPM and consuming between 20 and 24 liters/hour.
Now the problem:
The new regulations try to forbid us to tow the floating hotels if there are people on board plus they try to force us to use "highly" trained captains for the job (a bureaucratic thing) to make more money from taxing etc. This regulation is applying only if the boat is towed but not if it is pushed...
I think you start to see my problem now. There are a few solutions to this:
1. You can modify the floating hotels but this is more than complicated and will push the boat into "passenger vessel" regulations... meaning more crew, more money more fuel burned etc. so this is out of the question.
2. Change the towing with pushing but this comes with its own problems... you can push alongside on the main channel but not in the narrow channels and the maneuverability is poor with bad visibility for the captain. We do this only when need to moor the boat in a tight place.
3. Make a new towing method that would add maneuverability, safety and keep the boat going alongside the sinuous narrow channels. Positioning the tug in the back of the convoy will increase maneuverability, but will add a couple of issues:
- absolutely no visibility due to the height of the floating hotel (4m).
- increase the length of the vessel to 48m or more and that is going to make impossible for the convoy to manage the meanders and also turn on narrower channels.
This brought me to the following idea but have no clue if it would be viable or not - an articulated hydraulic steering between the tug and the convoy. The advantage for this particular application would be:
- increased maneuverability by adding thrust vector just like an outboard using the articulation and the rudder effect
- possibility to make tight turns on channels
- safer as the convoy can be stopped by reversing - something not possible with the rope towing
Challenge:
Make a remote helm on board the floating hotel to control the tug - would this work? would it be legal?
Find a way to control the hydraulic articulation and the rudders in the same time.
Qestions:
1) Do you know of a way to remotely control an engine and steering safely? It can be by wire or hydraulic but also radio controlled (Here there are safety issues). It must be a way to quick connect and disconnect as the tug will be removed often.
2) What kind of redundancy can be build into this?
3) Would this kind of connection last and be safe?
Enough for now... I hope I was clear enough about what I want and I hope you can come up with some advice and ideas.
The principle is exactly like an articulated loader:
Cheers,
Daniel
I am thinking of possibilities to improve on "perfection" due to new EU regulations coming our way so I came up with this idea. Let me explain...
In the 50's on the Danube was introduced this towing system for various barges, floating hotels etc. It has worked flawlessly ever since but now the EU regulations are threatening my business. We operate since 25 years now these floating hotels tugged by tug boats via two ropes as seen in the pictures attached. On board the hotel there can be up to 20 guests plus 4 crew members and on the tug two crew members.
The floating hotel is flat bottom with a max draft of about 60cm, a beam of 5m, 32m long with a 4m wind surface above the water.
The tugboat is about 16m long with 3.5m beam and a draft of 1.2m capable of towing the convoy with about 10km/h (depending on current and wind) using its old Russian tank engine - 150hp@1800 RPM and consuming between 20 and 24 liters/hour.
Now the problem:
The new regulations try to forbid us to tow the floating hotels if there are people on board plus they try to force us to use "highly" trained captains for the job (a bureaucratic thing) to make more money from taxing etc. This regulation is applying only if the boat is towed but not if it is pushed...
I think you start to see my problem now. There are a few solutions to this:
1. You can modify the floating hotels but this is more than complicated and will push the boat into "passenger vessel" regulations... meaning more crew, more money more fuel burned etc. so this is out of the question.
2. Change the towing with pushing but this comes with its own problems... you can push alongside on the main channel but not in the narrow channels and the maneuverability is poor with bad visibility for the captain. We do this only when need to moor the boat in a tight place.
3. Make a new towing method that would add maneuverability, safety and keep the boat going alongside the sinuous narrow channels. Positioning the tug in the back of the convoy will increase maneuverability, but will add a couple of issues:
- absolutely no visibility due to the height of the floating hotel (4m).
- increase the length of the vessel to 48m or more and that is going to make impossible for the convoy to manage the meanders and also turn on narrower channels.
This brought me to the following idea but have no clue if it would be viable or not - an articulated hydraulic steering between the tug and the convoy. The advantage for this particular application would be:
- increased maneuverability by adding thrust vector just like an outboard using the articulation and the rudder effect
- possibility to make tight turns on channels
- safer as the convoy can be stopped by reversing - something not possible with the rope towing
Challenge:
Make a remote helm on board the floating hotel to control the tug - would this work? would it be legal?
Find a way to control the hydraulic articulation and the rudders in the same time.
Qestions:
1) Do you know of a way to remotely control an engine and steering safely? It can be by wire or hydraulic but also radio controlled (Here there are safety issues). It must be a way to quick connect and disconnect as the tug will be removed often.
2) What kind of redundancy can be build into this?
3) Would this kind of connection last and be safe?
Enough for now... I hope I was clear enough about what I want and I hope you can come up with some advice and ideas.
The principle is exactly like an articulated loader:
Cheers,
Daniel
