trimaran from three shipping containers

Agreed with Mydauphin. I just witnessed a 70 foot Berger motor yacht being destroyed by large machinery. Torn apart. It was just heart breaking.

They didn't even have the decency to disassemble the interior first. I watched the huge claw of the excavator rip in through the pilothouse and tear toward the forward crew quarters. You could see bulkheads being pulled apart and a galley being split open. They pulled the aluminum bits out to one pile and the systems and other items out to a junk pile. They used one of these excavators, plus some kind of pincer thing.



Nothing was wrong with the hull. She was all built of very sturdy aluminum and was more than seaworthy. I guess the engines were shot and she was an old design, so they tore her up and sold the aluminum.

I would post actual pictures, but don't want to give away my exact location on the internet.


http://www.burgerboat.com/

 

CaptnWannabe, its a novel idea and kinda reminds me of being a kid and tying some 200liter fuel drums together to make a raft.
I have a 40ft container down the back paddock, it's great for storing the mower and a few bit and pieces and thats about it.
Containers are great for storage and their door frames and corrogated sides make them strong for stacking. Their strength is mainly for vertical loads. I can walk around the roof of the container and it does not feel safe or all that strong. i would be surprised if the sheet steel is greater than 2mm by the way it moves. I have never seen whats under the wood floor but i'm guessing its the same as there is never a big load on the floor or roof skins.
Put it in the water with a load on top and there is a huge load on the floor sheets. I dont think it will last for too long. The container weighs 3740kg empty.

If you do, stay in a waterway no more than 8 feet deep so you can at least sit on top while waiting to be rescued.

Good luck

 

I don't have much experience with floating containers, though I have several in the boat yard. My experience is that they are all pretty rusting. I also had a friend that worked at the port welding them all the time. I wonder if the steel in them is just the cheapest available and rust prone, or is it the salt air get in the nook and crannies.

 

Fuel drums --containers --similar except that the container has two huge doors the width of the container.

Quite a ridiculous idea If you don't mind me saying so.

 

If you're looking for a cheap houseboat type craft,build a scow or barge out of sheets (marine ply,steel,etc) or (the best use for it) ferrocement.

There's a largely abandoned ferro barge here in Vancouver (the Mcbarge) that's been sitting since 1986,and just passed inspection.

Like said,containers have their strength in the upright pillars for stacking.

 

What if.....

I'm not saying this is a good idea, but it did cause me to think a little bit.
Seacan containers would make a terrible hull. The corrugated steel would destroy any chances the water could flow by.

That said, they are INCREDIBLY strong.
They are capable of withstanding forces from any direction, and are available for good prices usually.

So I say, WHAT IF.... we mad a pontoon out of 3 of them, end to end...
Then, weld up some framework at the ends for a proper shaped bow and stern, and THEN made a thin aluminum hull cover ( like 1/16th aluminum, riveted) that fit over the container hull, with a few inches of gap.
THEN, fill the gap from the bottom upwards with polyurethane foam.

This foam layer would provide water tightness, and the thin aluminum "cover" would protect the foam from damage.

After several years of wear and tear, or after a collision, the aluminum could be removed, foam could be scraped off, and the hull could be "redone" for relatively cheap.

The foam layer would also probably keep it quiet, and keep the steel and aluminum from touching and reacting.
The aluminum layer would be cheap thin material, and it wouldn't need to be water tight, so it would be relatively cheap to do.

Sort of like a "steel foam aluminum sandwich" .

I like it.....

The design I attached uses 14 containers, but a lot on the top could probably be removed and use only every 2nd or 3rd one haha.
A 40 ft container weighs 8360lbs, so 14 would give us just under 120,000 lbs.
Removing every second container on top of my drawing would save 3 containers.
11 containers weigh 91,960 lbs.

Water weighs 62 lbs per cubic foot, so take the bottom foot of displacement and see what it looks like:
120x8 + 120x8 =1920
119,808 lbs of water displaced if the 6 containers sat 12" below the water.
So in the design I drew, I would guess it would sit 8" or so draft.
That doesn't sound right to me, but I guess they're flat bottom haha.
However, that doesn't take into account the extra welding on the front or rear, foam, aluminum, engines, etc etc.

I think it's entirely feasible, though.
You'd need to cover the containers in something more water friendly, but the strength is there.
But you also have to ask; 11 x 40 ft containers would probably cost 3,000$ * 11 = 33,000$ JUST for the containers.

You might get a good part of a REAL boat built for that.

Interesting discussion though, I would like to discuss the foam aluminum sandwich more.

 

Containers are not incredibly strong, in fact they are very fragile. Part of my job is maintaining the companies Offshore lifting units and the containers are never out of the repair shops.

They are designed to be lifted vertically at the corners and can be stacked to 90 tons at these strong points but the rest of them is just corrugated skin.

You can buy Offshore DNV containers that would suit your purpose but these cost at least $50,000 each. The $3000 dry van will not stand up to bending and torsional loads.

I have seen on the web somewhere containers being used as part of the structure on a fairly elaborate rig, it was in Canada I'm pretty certain. They provided the floatation, the whole thing was assembled on site and then packed up when the job was done. Having the twistlock corners makes adding on structural members quite simple.

If you really wanted to develop your idea you would need to plate the bottoms and sides to above the waterline and use structural members to brace between all the strong points on the tops, probably a grillage or deck. You would need to have some transverse stiffening across the bottom as well. It's a lot of work, it could be done, but would the result justify it?