HIGH-SPEED WATER TRANSPORTATION OF MAN

A variety of advanced high speed marine craft have been proposed for the transport of people. Specific vehicles have been tried on a diversity of routes both with success and failure. Claims and counterclaims have been issued. Technical debates have ensued with regard to vehicle performance, reliability, costs, control, stability, propulsion, debris, noise and air pollution, etc. The literature contains numerous reports on these subjects. With notable exceptions, little has been said about one of the most basic of all considerations where the transportation of man is concerned, the effect of vehicle motions on the fare-paying passenger. To their credit, hovercraft and hydrofoil proponents have attempted to present information on this subject, usually related to what the motions are rather than to their effect on the passenger or the resulting economic impact on the operation. Generally, the problem is misunderstood and all too often ignored. No universally accepted method has been established to define the water conditions expected along a route, the vehicle motions likely to result, or the reaction of the passengers to those motions. This paper focuses attention on these considerations.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at ASCE-ASME National Transportation Engineering Meeting, Seattle, Washington, July 26-30, 1971.
• Corporate Authors:

  Boeing Company

  Naval Systems Division
  Seattle, WA  United States  98124
• Authors:
  • Shultz, W M
  • Coffey, C S
  • Gornstein, R J
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 21 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Marine transit; Passenger transportation; Performance; Seakeeping; Seaworthiness; Shipping; Water transportation
• Old TRIS Terms: Hydrofoil performance; Seakindliness
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00046575
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Boeing Company
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 18 1978 12:00AM