Roro for rocket booster cores

USA

The Halter Marine Group`s Halter-Moss Point yard is to build a 6,000g roro vessel for the transportation of rocket booster cores. Seattle-based Foss Maritime, which has been selected to transport Boeing-built Delta IV rocket boosters to various space vehicle launch sites, has placed the order at the US yard.

The newbuilding will be 94.49m long, with a beam of 24.99m and a normal operating draught of 3.67m. Main propulsion will be via two diesel engines developing a total of 5884kW (8,000 bhp) and two 2,942kW (4,000 bhp) Z-drive thrusters. Two bow thrusters, each developing 367kW (500 bhp), will be fitted to aid manoeuvrability. The vessel will also feature a helicopter pad.

Engineering on the project is underway and construction will begin in December. The 3,700 dwt newbuilding will be capable of navigating the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to Mobile, Alabama, through the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic to Cape Canaveral and through the Panama Canal to the air force base at Vandenburg, California.