GB2448597A

GB2448597A - Gangplank system and deck ladder unit which is supported by a railing

Info

Publication number: GB2448597A
Application number: GB0806938A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rudolphus Hendrikus Josephus Schwegler
Original assignee: VERHOEF ALUMINIUM SCHEEPSBOUW
Current assignee: VERHOEF ALUMINIUM SCHEEPSBOUW
Priority date: 2007-04-16
Filing date: 2008-04-16
Publication date: 2008-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 2028-04-16
Also published as: NL2000595C2; GB2448597B; GB0806938D0

Abstract

A gangplank system for providing a connection between the quay (4) and a ship (13), comprising a bridge portion (1), one end of which can be supported with respect to a quay (4) and the other end of which is provided with a deck ladder (7) which is to be placed above or on a deck (12) of a ship (13), near the railing (14) thereof, as well as connecting the deck ladder (7) with respect to a ship (13). The connection are provided in duplicate and comprise the saddle part (10) which can be placed astride over the railing for supporting the deck ladder with respect to the railing and a bottom part (11) for supporting the deck ladder with respect to a deck (12).

Description

GanpIank system and deck ladder unit The invention relates to a

gangplank system for providing a connection between the quay and a ship, comprising a bridge portion, one end of which can be supported with respect to the quay and the other end of which is provided with a deck ladder which is to be placed above or on the deck of the ship, near the railing thereof, as well as stabilizing means for stabilizing the deck ladder with respect to the ship.

A gangplank system of this type is known and is used, for example, on piers for loading or unloading hydrocarbons, such as mineral oil and natural gas, onto or from large tankers. A gangplank is provided on the pier in order to be able to transfer people from the pier to the ship and vice versa. Said gangplank, which is often supported in a pivoting manner, has a deck ladder at its free end, which is placed on the deck of the ship. As the level of the deck of the ship may vary greatly, which is caused by ebb and flow as well as by the relatively great or relatively small draught of the ship which is the result of loading and unloading, the gangplank can also swing up and down with respect to its point of support on the pier. The deck ladder itself can in this case also carry out a pivoting movement with respect to the free end of the gangplank.

The position where the deck ladder can be placed on the deck plays an important role in establishing the connection between the quay and the ship. Particularly in the case of gas tankers, space for positioning the deck ladder is limited. This is caused by the fact that the convex gas containers protrude above the deck. As the gas containers are made as large as possible, the outer circumference thereof is situated close to the lateral side of the ship, as a result of which only a narrow walkway remains. In this case, it becomes problematic to place the deck ladder on the ship in a stable manner.

According to a known embodiment of the deck ladder, the latter is in this connection provided with a saddle which can be hooked over a section of the railing of the ship intended for this purpose. The deck ladder is thus securely protected against sliding away. The gangplank system designed in this way nevertheless results in problems, in particular when handling ships other than gas tankers, since many other ships are not provided with a special railing section for accommodating the saddle of the deck ladder. This means that the deck ladder cannot be positioned on these other ships in a

stable manner.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gangplank system for providing a connection between the quay and a ship, comprising a bridge portion, one end of which can be supported with respect to the quay and the other end of which is provided with a deck ladder which is to be placed above or on the deck of the ship, near the railing thereof, as well as stabilizing means for stabilizing the deck ladder with respect to the ship, wherein the stabilizing means are provided in duplicate and comprise a part for supporting the deck ladder with respect to the railing and a part for supporting the deck ladder with respect to the deck.

Since the stabilizing means are provided in duplicate and comprise a part for supporting the deck ladder with respect to the railing and a part for supporting the deck Ladder with respect to the deck, the gangplank system makes it possible to handle various types of ships in a flexible manner.

The fact that the gangplank system according to the invention has a double support makes it possible to also position the deck ladder in a stable manner on ships other than gas tankers. This offers the great advantage that the pier can be accessed directly by all types of ships and the transfer of personnel from the pier to the ship and vice versa does not cause any problems. It is not necessary to modify or replace the standard support, in the form of the saddle, which obviously results in an improvement in safety and a saving in time.

In one preferred embodiment, the gangplank system comprises a saddle which can be placed astride over a part of the railing, and in combination therewith a deck support, the bottom end of which can be supported on the deck. With this embodiment, the deck ladder can be supported as desired on the railing and/or on the deck.

As has already been mentioned, the relevant gas tankers may have a supporting railing part, the cross section of which is adapted to the cross section of the saddle. Said supporting railing part is of a relatively strong and rigid design compared to the rest of the railing, which, after all, only serves to prevent personnel from falling overboard.

However, the supporting railing part for coupling a gangplank system to has to be sufficiently strong to be able to absorb all movements of the ship with respect to the pier without problems, in particular the variations in height of the deck, which may, for example, be in the order of magnitude of 15 m.

In this connection, in a preferred embodiment, the supporting railing part can support a removable and substantially horizontal railing bar which is situated at a higher level and which adjoins the remainder of the railing on either side of the railing bar. In use, when sailing, the railing bar is situated on top of the respective supporting railing part in such a manner that an effective balustrade is provided around the ship. However, as soon as the gas tanker is moored on the pier, the railing bar is removed, following which the supporting railing part can receive the saddle of the gangplank system.

When handling a ship which lacks the respective special supporting railing part, the deck support can be used. In particular, said deck support can comprises a frame, the top end of which is connected to the deck ladder and the bottom end of which comprises wheels or rollers which can be supported on the deck. The frame may be connected to the deck ladder at the top end thereof, in which case the saddle may be situated between the deck ladder and the deck support.

The invention also relates to a deck ladder unit for use with the gangplank system as described above. Said deck ladder unit comprises a deck ladder as well as the stabilizing means provided in duplicate as described above.

The invention will now be described in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment which is illustrated in the figures, in which: Fig. 1 shows a side view of a gangplank system according to the invention; Fig. 2 shows an enlarged view of the deck ladder unit associated with the gangplank system according to the invention; Fig. 3 shows a rear view of the deck ladder unit according to Fig. 2; Fig. 4 shows a part of the deck of a ship having a railing.

The gangplank system according to the invention illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 1 comprises the gangplank denoted overall by reference numeral I and the deck ladder unit denoted overall by reference numeral 2. At one end, the gangplank I is supported on the column 3 which is situated on the quay 4. At the location of said support, the multidirectional pivot joint 5 is arranged, which enables pivoting movements both about a horizontal axis and about a vertical axis. At the other end of the gangplank 1, the deck ladder unit 2 is connected by means of the pivot joint 6.

The deck ladder unit 2 comprises the ladder 7 itself and the railing 8 attached thereto, as well as the double support which is denoted overall by reference numeral 9. This double support 9 comprises the saddle 10 and the deck support 11. In the position illustrated in Fig. 1, the deck ladder unit 2 is supported by means of the saddle 10 on the supporting railing part 17 which is situated on the deck 12 of the ship 13. This supporting railing part 17 forms part of the total railing 14 of the ship 13. However, at the location of the supporting railing part 17, the railing 14 is interrupted; as the supporting railing part 17 is lower than the total height of the railing 14, the railing bar is removably attached on top thereof. In the situation illustrated in Fig. 4, the railing bar 15 is fitted in such a manner that the railing 14 is entirely at the desired height on all sides.

Said railing bar 15 has been removed in the situation illustrated in Fig. 1. This has made it possible to support the saddle 10, in particular the recess 16 thereof, in a suitable manner on the correspondingly shaped upper side and lateral side of the supporting railing part 17. The advantage of such a support is that it is located very close to the lateral side of the ship 13, so that it is also possible to place the deck ladder 7 in narrow walkways.

For the sake of clarity, the deck ladder unit 2 is shown in rear view in Fig. 3. Also, the other support, namely the deck support 11 can be seen in this Fig. 3, as well as in Fig. 2. On the bottom side, said deck support 11 is provided with wheels 18, which are supported on the deck 12 of the ship 13. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the deck support 11 is situated inside the railing 14. The saddle 10 is not operational now. Such an arrangement is possible if there is sufficient space on the deck 12 inside the railing 14.

Claims

Claims 1. Gangplank system for providing a connection between the quay

(4) and a ship (13), comprising a bridge portion (1), one end of which can be supported with respect to the quay (4) and the other end of which is provided with a deck ladder (7) which is to be placed above or on the deck (12) of the ship (13), near the railing (14) thereof, as well as stabilizing means (10, 11) for stabilizing the deck ladder (7) with respect to the ship (13), wherein the stabilizing means (10, 11) are provided in duplicate and comprise a part (10) for supporting the deck ladder (7) with respect to the railing (14) and a part (11) for supporting the deck ladder (7) with respect to the deck (12).
2. Gangplank system according to Claim 1, in which the stabilizing means comprise a saddle (10) which can be placed astride over a part (17) of the railing (14).
3. Gangplank system according to Claim 2, in which the stabilizing means comprise a supporting railing part (17), the cross section of which is adapted to the cross section of the saddle (10).
4. Gangplank system according to Claim 3, in which the supporting railing part (17) supports a removable and substantially horizontal railing bar (15) which is situated at a higher level and which adjoins the remainder of the railing (14) on either side of the railing bar (15).
5. Gangplank system according to Claim 3 or 4, in which the supporting railing part (17) has a substantially square or rectangular cross section, and the saddle (10) has a correspondingly shaped recess (16).
6. Gangplank system according to Claim 5, in which the recess (16) of the saddle (10) flares out towards the bottom.
7. Gangplank system according to one of the preceding claims, in which the stabilizing means comprise a deck support (11), the bottom end of which can be supported on the deck (12).
8. Gangplank system according to Claim 7, in which the deck support (11) comprises a frame, the top end of which is connected to the deck ladder (7) and the bottom end of which comprises wheels (18) or rollers which can be supported on the deck (12).
9. Gangplank system according to Claim 8, in which the frame is connected to the deck ladder (7) at the top end thereof.
10. Gangplank system according to one of Claims 7-9 when dependent on Claim 2, in which the saddle (10) is situated between the deck ladder (7) and the deck support (11).
11. Deck ladder unit (2) for use with the gangplank system according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a deck ladder (7) as well as stabilizing means (10, 11) provided in duplicate which comprise a part (10) for supporting the deck ladder (7) with respect to the railing (14) and a part (11) for supporting the deck ladder (7) with respect to the deck (12).
12. Deck ladder unit (2) according to Claim 11, in which the stabilizing means comprise a saddle (10) which can be placed astride over a part (17) of the railing (14).
13. Deck ladder unit (2) according to Claim 11 or 12, in which the stabilizing means comprise a deck support (11), the bottom end of which can be supported on the deck (12).