As shown at this skeptics SE post, there are ships that carry other ships as cargo, etc...
My question: how are the ships stacked onto the flat bed ship? Is there some kind of specialized crane that is able to lift the smaller ships (seems like an intense crane to me!... but I don't know much about cranes)? Or are there other ways stacking ships like this?
These ships can be loaded/unloaded:
Figure : Loading/unloading from a dock (source Youtube)
Figure: Loading Unloading from subversion (source Youtube)
After a small search you can see that using the submersible ability those ships where loaded onto the Blue Marlin.
Figure : loading of stacked ships. Amazing Ships Youtube
Answer: Gantry cranes with submersible dry dock. It has to be a crane because we have to accurately place one hull on another.
Vessel is Blue Marlin. Load has been described as 22 barges. There are barges there to allow hulls to be transported, but mainly inland ship hulls with super structures on top of hulls.
Destination was Veka shipyard Lemmer, which produce inland vessels. Largest of these have a tonnage of 6,228 tons. Let's say 5,000 tons (this is a way over estimate, but good enough to answer question).
Super-structures (that it is) can be clearly seen on top.
Sea trials of one or a similar hull.
To lift 5,000 tons onto a barge, we need gantry cranes with water access.
30,000 ton gantry crane with submersible water quay in Singapore by Sembcorp Marine. The legs are on wheels so the gantry cranes can come closer to each other to lift loads (Second image).
YouTube Video: The 15,000 tons record transport project on Cometto SPMT Self-Propelled Modular Transporter of cranes ariving in Singapore.
