Japan's Jumbo Jet-Freighter of the Future
TOKYO, JAPAN-Japan's principal shipbuilders have joined forces with government researchers to create a high speed superfreighter that will leave existing cargo ships in its wake.
The Techno-Superliner is expected to be 330 ft. long. and carry more than 1000 tons of cargo at 50 knots.
Two versions are under consideration. Mitsubishi and Mitsui are examining a surface-effect variant, essentially a big hovercraft. Meanwhile, Kawasaki, IHI, NKK, Sumitomo and Hitachi are looking into a small-waterplane-area twin hull (SWATH) design to lift the hull above 6-ft. waves.
To meet its performance goals, the cargo ship will run on 25,000-hp gas turbine engines featuring ceramics and other advance materials. The engines, four per ship, should boast 60 percent thermal efficiency and need a third (of) the maintenance of conventional engines.
At full throttle, the Superliner's speed will be 2½ times the average speed of conventional container vessels. That pace will allow the ship to make the Tokyo-to-Taiwan run, normally a 3-day run, in less than 24 hours. Travel time to the U.S. would be cut to three days.
The researchers aim to turn the project over to a shipbuilder in 1993 and have a working Superliner by 2000.
Popular Mechanics, December 1990
