Manufacturing line/Cargo vessels/Livestock carrier
Autonomous · Cargo vessels

Livestock carrier

Nine climate-controlled decks, watched every second, fed and watered automatically.

Phase 7 · 2033+Concept design
Capacity
20,000 head
Pen decks
9
Fuel burn
≈ 4.6 t NH₃ / hr
Crew
0
I · Blueprint
Side elevation, live systems
DWLAABBLOA 189.3 m12345678901040614200209122203051315161907081011171821SECTION A–A · PEN DECKS, LOOKING FORWARDSECTION B–B · AMMONIA FUEL TANKSDWLBeam 31 mPen deck 1Pen deck 2Pen deck 3Pen deck 4Pen deck 5Pen deck 6Pen deck 7Pen deck 8Pen deck 9Ventilation fansSupply air duct over alleywayCamera & gas sensor, each pen blockFeed & water troughsCattle pens, both sidesOpen side with railsDrain gutter to waste plantFresh-water tanksRO water plantDouble bottomTank vent mastTank connection spaceGas detectionAmmonia fuel tankInsulationFuel pump · feed lineTank saddlePen decks 1–9 aboveDouble bottom
01Propeller, 5 blades, & rudderPropulsion
02Sensor mast & autonomy core — no bridge, zero crewStructure
03Ammonia fuel-cell stacks, 12 MWPower
04Shaft line & stern-tube sealPropulsion
05Power electronics & 4 MWh battery bufferPower
06Permanent-magnet propulsion motor & thrust blockPropulsion
07Fodder silos & automated feedingCargo
08Livestock decks — 9 tiers, climate-controlled pensCargo
09Hull, double bottom & watertight bulkheadsStructure
10Fresh-water generation & tanksCargo
11Waste treatment plantStructure
12Forced ventilation & air exchangeStructure
13Ammonia fuel tanksPower
14Bow thrusterPropulsion
15Ammonia cracker — NH₃ to hydrogenPower
16Exhaust vent — water vapour & nitrogenPower
17Fodder elevator & feed conveyorsCargo
18Camera & gas sensing over every pen blockCargo
19Ammonia feed line in pipe ductPower
20Steering gear & aft peakPropulsion
21Side loading doorCargo
22Bulbous bow & forepeakStructure
II · Power & drivetrain

Quiet power for living cargo.

Fuel cells make no vibration and no heat plume near the pens. Ammonia is cracked to hydrogen, stacks turn it into electricity, and the only exhaust is water and nitrogen.

Ammonia fuel-cell plant — rotating view
Ammonia from the tank (left) is cracked to hydrogen and nitrogen in the heated reactor, then fed to six 2 MW fuel-cell stack modules whose bipolar plates are drawn as the fine vertical lines. The inverter and 4 MWh battery buffer at right feed the propulsion motor; the only exhaust is water vapour and nitrogen (top).
01Ammonia tank — refrigerated, −33 °C
02Cracker — heated catalyst bed, ammonia to hydrogen and nitrogen
03Fuel-cell stacks — 6 modules × 2 MW, 50% net from ammonia to bus
04Inverter & DC bus — 12 MW
05Battery buffer — 4 MWh, for manoeuvring and cell ramp rates
06Propulsion motor — 9.5 MW at 18 kn, vibration-isolated
07Ventilation & pen systems — ≈ 1.6 MW from the same bus
08Exhaust — water vapour and nitrogen only
Propeller — 5 blades
Power plantAmmonia fuel cells, 12 MW, 50% net
Shaft output≈ 9.5 MW at 18 kn
FuelGreen ammonia
Consumption≈ 4.6 t NH₃ / hr
Metal content≈ 86% of lightship
Naked drivetrain — energy to motion
CUTAWAY · NOT TO SCALEliquid NH₃NH₃ gas2NH₃ → N₂ + 3H₂H₂ + N₂Ammonia tanksVaporiserCrackerFuel cells · 12 MWBattery · 4 MWhPM motorShaftPropeller · 5 bladesPower electronicsVentFuel pumpAir blowerExhaust: water vapour & nitrogenVentilation fans· 1.6 MW hotel loadThrust bearingStern tube · sealRudder
III · How it is put together

Built in blocks, joined, then brought to life.

Blocks are fabricated in parallel, joined in sequence, and the power module and autonomy core go in last. The loop below replays the build order.

POWER MODULE
I
Keel & double-bottom blocks
II
Hull blocks joined in dry dock
III
Power module lowered in
IV
Sensor mast & autonomy core fitted
V
Unmanned sea trials
IV · Specification

Concept specification.

Design specification for the autonomous livestock carrier.

Length overall
189.3 m
Beam
31 m
Capacity
20,000 head of cattle
Pen decks
9, climate-controlled
Animal care
Automated feed & water, remote veterinary watch
Power plant
Ammonia fuel cells, 12 MW, 50% net
Fuel
Green ammonia
Consumption
≈ 4.6 t NH₃ / hr
Exhaust
Water vapour & nitrogen
Service speed
18 kn
Shaft output
≈ 9.5 MW at 18 kn
Ventilation & care
≈ 1.6 MW hotel load
Battery buffer
4 MWh, manoeuvring and cell ramp
Metal content
≈ 86% of lightship
Crew
0 — fully autonomous
Onboard compute
Three AI modules; one of them watches every animal
Modules3 AI modules (navigation; perception; animal care & plant — pens, climate, feed and water, fuel cells) + 2 certified safety controllers
CPU48 cores (3 × 16) + 4 lockstep real-time cores per module
AI throughput15,000 TOPS total (3 × 5,000, INT8 / FP4 sparse)
Memory3 × 128 GB LPDDR6, 600 GB/s per module; 8 TB solid-state voyage log
Power draw300 W compute; ≈ 1.4 kW with 80 cameras, 4 lidars and 3 radars — 0.01% of the 12 MW plant
Process node2 nm-class SoCs; safety controllers on a mature 16 nm node, 15-year supply
RedundancyEvery sensor is wired to two modules. Each module is primary for its zone and hot standby for the next: navigation backs perception, perception backs animal care and plant, animal care and plant backs navigation. Any one module can bring the ship to a safe drift or anchorage. Two independent SIL 3 safety controllers hold the plant trip, ammonia emergency shutdown, steering and shaft interlocks.
Sensors60 pen cameras (visible and thermal), one over each pen block, and 20 navigation cameras, aggregated over automotive Ethernet through camera switches into the modules; 4 lidars for berthing, 3 radars, AIS, climate and ammonia sensors on every deck, 1,000 plant sensors
LinkLow-orbit satellite at sea (plan updates each minute; the planning model runs aboard); fibre and private 5G in port
Service lifeCompute is a line-replaceable unit, swapped at mid-life in the year-20 dry-docking; the hull runs 40 years
The animal-care module runs the pen cameras: it counts, tracks and flags every animal, and adjusts feed, water and ventilation deck by deck. A veterinarian ashore sees the same picture through The Brain. Every command passes from the ship agent through the certified safety channel to the drives, and each drive closes its own current loop every 1 ms. A software fault can never drive the ship outside its certified safe envelope: two SIL 3 controllers hold the fuel-cell plant trip, the ammonia emergency shutdown, steering and shaft on their own sensors (shaft and rudder encoders, ammonia and hydrogen detectors, a safety-rated radar).
Today vs IC
Power and animal care: today’s largest livestock ships beside the IC design
Today · large livestock carrierIC design
Capacity20,000 cattle on 9 decks, 23,500 m² of pens, 189.3 × 31 m20,000 head on 9 decks, 189.3 × 31 m
MachineryDiesel on heavy fuel oil; a 4,000-head ship runs one 6.1 MW two-strokeAmmonia fuel cells, 12 MW, 50% net; 9.5 MW electric drive
Air and water60 air changes an hour; a 600 t/day fresh-water plant60 air changes an hour and fresh water made aboard, on ≈ 1.6 MW
Animal watchStockmen walk the pens60 pen cameras watch every pen block; a veterinarian ashore sees every deck
Crew45, including stockmen0. Supervised from shore through The Brain
FleetAverage ship 40 years old; 84% converted from other ship typesPurpose-built hull
The IC column is the design shown on this page. Sources for the Today column are listed in BUILD_NOTES.md.
Runs on The Brain
Every movement of this machine is planned by The Brain’s orchestration layer, mirrored in the port’s digital twin, and re-planned the moment reality drifts.
See how it works →
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Car carrier (Ro-Ro) →← Bulk carrier