A STATUS REPORT ON DESIGN AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE SEMI-SUBMERGED CATAMARAN VESSELS

This paper reports the current status of the Semi-Submerged Catamaran or Small-Waterplane-Area Twin-Hull vessels. The SSC was developed to achieve high performance both in terms of speed and seakeeping as well as to carry moderate payloads, and has been built and operated only in the U.S. and Japan up to the present. The outline of the world's largest SSC-type support vessel Kaiyo, which was built by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and is undergoing various sea trials in Japan, is reviewed. Some design considerations as well as operational experiences for the SSC are also described.