Commander, Military Sealift Command, Bldg 210, 901 M Street SE, Code N10, Washington, DC 20398-5541

A -- CRADLE DESIGN FOR MINE COUNTERMEASURE SHIPS SOL N00033-99-R-5700 DUE 121198 POC Cathlene Jo Stangler 202/685-6825, Contracting Officer,Sheila White 202/685-5823, Contract Specialist, E-MAIL: cathlene.stangler@smtpgw.msc.navy.mil, sheila.white@smtpgw.msc.navy.mil. The Government intends to solicit offers for the development and design of a cradle structure capable of supporting a loaded Mine Countermeasure(MCM)ship during the actual lift and transit aboard a suitable cargo ship. The MCM fleet consists of fourteen (14) midsized (1400 long-ton displacement)vessels currently home-ported in Ingleside, Texas. The preferred method of transporting these assets in an overseas deployment has been float-on/float-off (FLO/FLO)transport aboard chartered semi-submersible heavy-lift ships by the Military Sealift Command (MSC). However, because of an acute worldwide shortage of FLO/FLO vessels, MSC has been studying alternative means of transporting the MCMs. One undeveloped alternative to FLO/FLO transportation is lift-on/lift-off (LO/LO)of MCM's aboard larger nonsubmersible government of commercial ships by means of one or more heavy-lift cranes. Although LO/LO of an MCM aboard another vessel has not been previously attempted, this method has been successfully demonstrated for smaller watercraft such as the LCU-2000, LCM-8, WPB, YTB and various barges. Most often, the lift of these smaller vessels is accomplished using large slings or directly attaching rigging pad eyes to the shell of the vessels. Due to the size and construction of the MCM, however, neither slings nor pad eyes are considered an acceptable method. The hull of the MCM is composed of fragile wood and composite material and the forces encountered during the lift and transit will be quite large. MSC envisions the design and fabrication of an external framework, or cradle to distribute and transfer the lifting loads of the MCM during the loading and unloading, as well as to support the MCM during transit aboard a sealift ship. To accomplish this, the cradle must not only be integrated with the MCM, but also with most available heavy-lift cranes and the actual sealfit ships. it is anticipated that each MCM will eventually require its own cradle. There are several potential problems that must be overcome. due to the limited availability of worldwide heavy-lift cranes, the lifting system must be designed with flexibility to be compatible to the greatest extent with all types of heavy-lift cranes. The cradle must also be designed to be easily secured to both the MCM and various sealift ships. Securing the cradle to the MCM should be possible while the MCM is waterborne, without assistance of dry docks or boatlifts. Discharge of the MCM from the sealift ship and cradle must be quick enough for immediate deployment of the MCM after the arrival at destination. Finally, because of the high freeboard of proposed sealift ships, the lift must be engineered to be practicable.**** Posted 11/18/98 (W-SN272671). (0322)

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