By
Rebecca Gibson |
Marine interior fit-out firm Trimline showcased a new Lightweight Composite Cabin at its headquarters in Southampton, UK on 24 May.
Funded by the UK Government’s ‘Innovate UK’ and DSTL initiatives, the cabin was designed, engineered and fitted out by Tom Royle from Wizz Consultancy in collaboration with Carnival UK, Gurit (UK), PE Composites, University of Southampton, Trimline and Lloyd’s Register.
The prototype is half the weight of a typical cabin and complies with the prescriptive requirements of the FTP Code. It is expected that operators opting to install the cabins will benefit from increased cabin capacity, improved stability, enhanced vessel efficiency and revenue growth.
“Reducing topside weight is becoming an increasing problem for naval architects as the trend for larger capacity ships continues,” said Royle. “With this Lightweight Composite Cabin, the weight of each cabin is typically halved. This could open up opportunities for more cabins to be added to ships, without the added weight. I believe we have finally created something which is the future for anyone working with the building or maintenance of ships.”