A new roll-on/roll-off cargo service between New York, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic was started in December. The initial service was inaugurated with the MS Caribbean Venture operating on a fortnightly schedule. In February, a sistership, the Caribbean Enterprise, will be delivered and the service increased to weekly.
The new and only such service out of New York was inaugurated by Caribbean Trailer Express Line. The vessels used in the operation are owned by Northumbrian Shipping Ltd. of London. Shipcraft Agency, Inc., New York, is acting as general agents for the ships.
The Caribbean Venture was specially designed for this type of fast turnaround operation. The Venture, as well as the Enterprise, were built by J.J. Sietas Shipyard, Hamburg-Neuenfelde, Germany. The Venture was completed late in 1968 and the Enterprise is scheduled for launching this month.
The Caribbean Venture is not a large ship. It was designed for this specialized type of operation where a shallow draft is advantageous and the amount of cargo available on a weekly basis is not large. However, a frequent, scheduled sailing service is important.
The type of cargo generated by this service was well represented on the first voyage. Southbound trailers contained general cargo and food products and a few automobiles were carried. Northbound, there were fresh fruits and vegetables from the Dominican Republic and Jamaica and local manufactured goods from Jamaica.
About 30 percent of the southbound freight is on a pier-to-pier basis, with the shipping line consolidating the cargo into trailers. Most of the northbound cargo will be pier consolidated. However, the operators do anticipate that there will be a substantial amount of railroad piggyback service at its Staten Island, N.Y. pier and have made provisions for handling it.
With this type of operation, it will be possible to transport heavy-wheeled equipment such as bulldozers, cranes, etc.
The capacity of the Venture is 51 forty-foot dry, liquid or refrigerated trailers, or the equivalent in other forms of wheeled vehicles. The ship also has two deep tanks, each capable of holding 180 tons of vegetable oils or chemicals.
The Venture has a length overall of 309 feet and a beam of 55 feet. Full load draft is 15 feet. The total deadweight tonnage is 2,300 tons.
Vehicles are loaded by way of a stern ramp, 45 feet wide and 14 feet long. The ramp is formed by the stern doors. The loading tractor backs the trailers onto the main deck and stows them. Special tiedown arrangements are provided in a grid pattern on the deck, so that all sizes of trailers or vehicles can be stowed.
For loading the weather deck, the trailer is moved onto an elevator. After being placed on the elevator, the tractor is unhitched and the elevator raises just the trailer to the weather deck. Here another tractor moves the trailer to its stowed position.
The hydraulically-operated elevator is of the scissor-action type so that there are no obstructions between the main deck and the weather deck. The elevator has a capacity of 33 tons.
Twin-screw propulsion is provided by two Deutz diesel engines, each developing 2,000 bhp. This power gives the Caribbean Venture a service speed of 16 knots.