22 March 2017. “Mexeflote for Interim AOR” was the title of an article posted on Broadsides last September. The article proposed the interim AOR be equipped with a mexeflote-powered raft for ship-to-shore transfer of large cargo, up to 60 tonnes per trip. The AOR's cranes could lower the mexeflote pontoons from the container bay to the water where the modules are coupled together to form a 7 meter wide by 20-meter long raft. The cranes could then lower containers and vehicles onto the mexeflote to offload on shore.
The mexeflote is not limited to amphibious operations. In a HADR situation, where the AOR is using the ship's small craft to evacuate people and casualties, the bow section of the mexeflote could be moored alongside the ship. The small craft could quickly offload people on to the mexeflote before returning for more evacuees. The fewer craft could shuttle more people per hour because the craft is not being hoisted on deck and evacuees are not climbing ladders to reach safety. Eliminating this bottleneck would make the AOR very efficient in evacuations from shore or a sinking cruise ship.
The mexeflote can enhance the AOR's repair capabilities in a task force and to assist other ships in distress. A repair team from the AOR could work on a mexeflote moored to another ship. The diver would have a large platform just above the waterline to dive off and make repairs. Welders could use the mexeflote pontoons as a floating platform to repair the damaged hull of another ship, such as a supertanker.
The modular pontoons of the mexeflote can be adapted to many situations expanding the capabilities of the AOR at a modest cost.
Garry N