when the door is opened. Combined side door/hatch covers are fitted in
designs where the ship is low in the water relative to the height of quay in
order to provide sufficient head room for forklift truck operation (see Figure
25.4). With the side port elevator system referred to above a combined
door/hatch is fitted to the hatch carrying part of the tower which houses the
upper part of the cargo elevator.
A side loader that dispenses with the need for a side door is the MacGregor-
Navire International AB’s ‘Rotoloader’. This can be a fixed or portable
installation. The unit load is raised from the quay to a point above the ships
side, swung inboard through 180° on a rotating frame unit and lowered
through the hatch to the hold or tween.
Portable Decks
Portable decks are fitted in a variety of ships permitting flexibility of stowage
arrangements and allowing totally different cargoes to be carried on
different voyages. An extreme example is a 50 000 tonne deadweight bulk
carrier fitted with hoistable car decks stowed under the hold wing tanks
when taking ore from Australia to Japan and lowered for the return voyage
when 3000 cars are carried. The car deck is the most common form of