Designs for a family of replenishment ships capable of supporting warships on rapid response missions are being displayed by Rolls-Royce at the Pacific 2008 exhibition in Sydney.
The family of underway replenishment ships is based on existing Rolls-Royce commercial designs, which means the company is able to meet conflicting pressures of capability, requirement and cost.
The Rolls-Royce designs, which range from 9,000 – 2,5000dwt and are designed for speeds of 18-27 knots, offer a cost-effective alternative to taking ships up from trade or building bespoke naval design ships.
The ships feature a full range of Rolls-Royce propulsion and motion control equipment.
The Rolls-Royce family of replenishment ships is based on commercially-proven hullforms for fast Ro-Ro ferries. This offers better efficiency at speed than a conventional tanker and better course-keeping to ensure accurate station-keeping for replenishment operations.
Baseline hullforms in the designs are from the company’s Ro-Pax range, while experience of oil handling is based on its product tanker designs and experience with refuelling and replenishment at sea systems and equipment.