More space means more challenges - Ship loading - Brief Article

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, March-April, 2001 by Larry D. McCaskill

While some say bigger is better, bigger also means more challenges for transporters who load the Navy's big ships.

That was the consensus of participants in the most recent training class on loading the Navy's Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/ Roll-off Ships.

The training is being sponsored by the Deployment Support Command's 841st Transportation Battalion, Charleston, S.C.

"This is great," said Maj. Gina Luck, a student in the two-day course.

"This is exactly the kind of stuff we need to know out in the field," said Luck, a member of the 1188th Transportation Terminal Battalion, Decatur Ga.

"Going on board the vessel gave me a much better sense of what we have to work with if we're given the mission of loading one of these new ships."

The training course consists of lectures and an on-site walk through a Large, Medium-Speed, Rollon/Roll-off vessel during an actual loading or discharge operation.

The 841st Transportation Battalion is a logical site for training. Unit members are Veterans of loading and discharging the massive ships which frequently call at the nearby Charleston Naval Weapons Station.

Clark Chambers is one of those veterans.

Chambers, a transportation operations specialist and course coordinator, was on the first team to load an LMSR. He has been working the huge ships ever since.

With the ability to carry more than 1,900 pieces of equipment, the possibility of having frustrated cargo increases, said Chambers. This increased possibility is a major factor in a loading operation.

"You're talking about vessels that can carry enough equipment to cover eight football fields," Chambers said. "We've worked on more than 20 operations with the new ships, so we have the most experience loading them.

"It only makes sense that we share our knowledge working the vessel."

"The class gave me hands-on exposure to ship operations," said Valerie Foye, a transportation specialist in the DSC Command Operations Center.

"You cannot get a true sense of how huge these ships are until you are on one of them. Something like this will help me better respond to situations at the terminals regarding loading/discharging a vessel."

The vessels' strength lies in the number of options stow planners have to design the loadout of a ship, said Chambers. The stow planner has a lot more options to consider when loading because of the two side ramps and moving decks.

"We had to learn the hard way about loading these ships," said Chambers. "There was no one around who had loaded them before--they were new.

"Now that we have been working them for a while, we felt it was time to share that knowledge with others, because down the line we will all be working these humongous ships."

"The ships have unique characteristics, but you load one in the same manner as any other ship," said Chambers.

It takes more time because the ship can handle double the cargo capacity of a Fast Sealift Ship.

"I would love for anyone attending to take a look at the techniques we teach when working the LMSRs," said Maj. David Jones, course coordinator and 841st operations officer.

"Whether it's loading for surge projection or prepositioning, I think attendees can get a lot out of these sessions. The book we provide can be used as a reference guide."

The battalion plans to conduct a class during each LMSR download in Charleston; the next class is scheduled this spring.

Larry D. McCaskill
Public Affairs Specialist
Deployment Support Command