Boarding bridges get around the overhang
One issue with some of the new generation cruise vessels is that they have lifeboats located outside the hull, which require a new generation of boarding bridges to cope with the simple fact the lifeboats can get in the way.
So, Barcelona based Team Ports & Maritime is to design, manufacture, transport and install two Hydra Passenger Boarding Bridges (PBBs) for the Manhattan Cruise Terminal in New York City.
The PBBs will mean that when ships like NCL’s Breakaway and Epic, RCL’s Oasis Class ships, or Carnival’s Dream and Magic are moored, their lifeboats, which can literally overhang the berth, won’t cause a clash with boarding equipment located on the pier.
“The design enables berth logistic operations, ensuring the necessary space at the berth for feeding and mooring the ships,” said François Mamert, Team’s marketing director.
Each PBB will consist of two consecutive tunnels, measuring 25m each. This helps keep the incline that passengers have to traverse within reasonable parameters as the unit can reach up quite a way. The service height (over water) is 15.4m but the maximum operational slope has been kept down to 1:12 and the PBB also benefits from an auto-levelling system.
The motion drive package of these 120 tonne units will have electro-mechanical lifting and translation, along with an electrically operated telescopic boarding pod.
The two PBBs will be transported from Barcelona to New York fully assembled via a special heavy lift ship.
They are complex projects, but Team has extensive experience of designing this type of equipment. Since 2008, the company has delivered a total of 19 specifically designed PBBs for cruise terminals in Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Miami, Baltimore and Port Canaveral (USA), and Singapore.
Team is also contracted to install a total of seven more PBBs in the next two years for cruise ships at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong and the White Bay Cruise Terminal in Sydney.
