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Electromagnetic Ship Docking System Debuts
Makarand writes "A system that uses electromagnets for docking ships is getting ready to be tested at a port in the
Netherlands according to this
article in the New Scientist. Magnetic docking systems were never used in the past as magnetic fields
posed dangers to sensitive cargo like TVs and monitors. Researchers at the
Delft University of Technology have developed electromagnets whose magnetic fields do not
penetrate far into the ship for this special application.
The magnets can be periodically switched off and on rapidly to allow ships
to rise and fall with the tide."
I can imagine this tech being great for mid-air and outer space docking situations? is this kind of technology in place for such applications already?
my pet machine
So, at work, I work with a 1.5 Tesla magnet (Gyroscan Intera... used for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; VMS/VAX/Solaris Operating Systems). Price tag on the thing is about $1M, which makes me wonder:
1) Did this docking system actually cost only $50M? At $5M a year, is a 10 year return on investment reasonable?
2) Is it actually Helium/Nitrogen cooled? We have to have a dedicated coolant system for our magnet to work at 1.5 Tesla. Moreover, what happens if a magnet breaks? They're not going to vent 2,000L of Helium, per magnet into the ozone, are they? (52 magnets = 100,000L total of liquid Helium)
What do you do in the case of an extended power failure? I know they probably have diesel backups, but even those only last so long.
At least living in the Bay Area with all the uproar about the "Energy Crisis" a couple of years ago, this may not be the most reliable system if you had to rely totally on electricity to dock all those boats up there in Oakland....
I expect the ILWU won't give a good god-damn about how the ship is moored as long as they are the ones who run the equipment, handle the cargo coming off the ships, and they're the ones who handle the clerical work. It was actually clerical and back-office jobs that triggered the recent strike. And no, they weren't opposed to technology, they simply wanted to make sure the minds and hands behind the technology had union cards.
One reason the ILWU had become such a powerful, well-paid union is the fact that when cargo got container-ized rather than loose-packed, they embraced change and took payouts for the workers displaced by the new equipment.
. We've got computers, we're tapping phone lines, you know that ain't allowed - Talking Heads, "Life During Wartime"
I've spent several years working as a dockhand for large yachts (100-200 feet). While these boats arn't as big as the tankers and cargo ships which will utilize the magnet system, the manuvering and handleing is similar. Dock lines are not just used to hold the ship once it is in position to the dock - they are also used to manuver the vessle as it is docking (for example, a line will be thrown from the front of the ship, made secure, and the ship will power against it to bring the back of the ship into the dock). Obviously, the magnets wouldn't work at this range (50+ feet)
Methinks docking lines might be a bit cheaper too - and when properly set, only slight adjustments need to be made for the tide.
What would be very cool to see is the magnet start attracting someone's belt loop or a leatherman out of someone's pocket standing nearby... wow
You've never going to save 40 minutes.
This is just a solution looking for a problem, and I'll predict that it'll never ever be used.
I live at a port in New Zealand (just outside Christchurch actually) and often watch the ships docking. My father used to tie them up. If I look to my left, I can see about a half-dozen ships out my window.
The majority of the 40 minutes that the article quotes, that it takes to berth the ship, is the tugs turning, and pushing the ship to the wharf. That's the thing with ships, they have a big propeller at the back, which pushes them forwards, and they can't move from side to side. They do have a rudder, but it's not designed for more than a few degrees of turning, you can't use it to dock. (I'll stay away from bow thrusters for now)
Basically the process goes like this...
A Pilot (who works for the port, and is an expert in the local navigation/conditions of the port) is taken to the ship on a small launch, and meets it several miles from the harbour.
The Pilot then commands the vessel, until it's tied up at the wharf. (s)he co-ordinates the ship, tugs, and wharf staff who, at the end of the operation drop the ropes over the bollards.
Securing the ship with the ropes takes about 5 minutes on a slow day, getting the ship alongside the wharf takes about 35 minutes. The thing with ropes is, that...
1) They're proven. They've been using them for thousands of years.
2) It's a standard system, used all over the world.
3) It's simple, never underestimate this.
4) it copes well with varing weather and tides.
5) You still need ropes to tie between the tugs and the ship.
Now, as I said before, you've going to save about 5 minutes per berthing? Your damage costs are going to far outweigh the costs of any savings.
And, what happens when the power goes out?
The ship floats away, probably onto rocks.
Backup Generators? Yeah sure, a diesel generator is going to hold a ship with 4-8000 shipping containers alongside a wharf, is bad weather, and an especially high tide, with no outages.
I'm sorry, but there's no way this would ever work.
Ships routinely have degaussing coils run along the inside of the hull.
The earth's magnetic field tends to magnetize a ship over time. During the second world war, torpedoes and mines used magnetism as one method of detecting that a ship was near. The magnetism would also mess with the compasses, of course. Large ships, lacking degaussing coils, would routinely go back to port and dock in a way that used the earth's magnetic field to gradually cancel out the ship's magnetism.
...
First of all, this is an experiment. Experiments never usually make money in the short term.
Secondly, here's a quote from the article (which several posters need to actually read):Could we please concede the possibility that someone has done a marginal amount of research into this and backed these figures up on some real numbers? Maybe it won't save them that much, or maybe the whole thing will end up costing too much. That's the point of an experiment, after all: to determine if something is going to work.
And for all of the couch port authorities inhabiting Slashdot, please remember that this is probably going to be done with the blessing (and financial support) of a large ocean port. I know that perhaps many of you think you know more about docking ships, managing large ocean-going vessels and the expenses associated with these activities than those in charge of these ports, but please take a deep breath, relax for a minute, and consider the possibility that maybe they're supporting this experiment for a reason, and that reason probably has less to do with a mad scientist trying to dupe someone into buying them a lot of expensive magnets and more to do with a convincing argument that this experiment could save them money in the long run.