It is known from prior art to arrange cabins on ships so that a prefabricated cabin is brought during the construction time onto the deck, where the cabin is to be installed. Each cabin deck is provided with an intermediate deck of its own, on which one cabin layer is located, the deck forming an integrated part of the ship structure. Each cabin is lifted as a distinct unit onto the ship, transported aboard ship and connected separately to the ship systems, e. g. to the heating, plumbing, ventilation and electrical installation (HEVAC), fire fighting, monitoring etc. systems, whereby there is still, in spite of the prefabricated cabins, a lot of work to be done on the ship, which may extend the construction time of the ship.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel improved and more efficient installation method, and similarly an installation system, which make it possible to an increasing degree to carry out the installation work in advance, i. e. before the cabin or room units are transferred onto the ship and installed in place.

The invention has, in addition to a labour-saving purpose, also a material-saving function in the construction of cabin departments for a ship.

The purpose of the invention is achieved by the installation method and system defined more particularly in accordance with claims 1 and 13, respectively. In accordance with method of the invention at least two room units are supported and connected in the vertical direction directly to each other so that the lower room unit carries most of the weight of the upper room unit. The room unit group is then arranged between two structure decks of the ship by transferring the room unit group in a sideways direction, in line with the structure decks.

Thus, by joining the room units together in this manner to form a room unit group, the installation may be substantially speeded up and simplified, whereby the construction time of the ship can be shortened. There is less installation work to be done aboard ship and consequently, the quality also improves. At the same time, the installation also makes it possible in the vertical direction between the room units to totally eliminate the need for a separate intermediate deck integrated with the ship's hull structure, as it may be replaced with an entity consisting of

joined room units. Thus every second cabin deck may be excluded from the ship's hull structure. Accordingly, the ship's side height and weight are decreased, whereby especially passenger ships having more critical stability may be provided with more cabins than by using known methods and arrangements.

On the basis of the above most of the room units are preferably transferred onto the ship as room unit groups, whereby accordingly, the savings achieved in the installation are most significant.

If desired, the room units of a room unit group may be transferred onto the ship also one by one so that one room unit comprises a structure element belonging to the other room unit. Thus, prior to connecting the room units to one another the lower room unit may preferably be provided with the floor structure of the upper room unit. In this case it is advantageous to proceed so that a number of lower room units are transferred onto the ship and installed substantially at their final positions so that the floor structures of the upper cabins attached to them form at least for the most part a uniform lightweight structure deck level. After this, a number of upper room units are transferred onto the ship and transported on the ship by utilizing said deck level.

Alternatively, it is possible to proceed so that prior to connecting the room units to one another the upper room unit is provided with a floor element, which forms at least a part of the ceiling structure of the lower room unit. In this case it is not possible, however, to utilize the transport level provided by the lower room units, but neither in this case a separate ship structure deck is necessary. The room unit group is thus transferred onto the ship in a sideways (lateral) direction between in the direction of the structure deck planes.

Preferably, a number of room units may also be provided with a horizontal supporting structure so that said supporting structures form together at least a part of the passageway structure and/or the deck structure and/or other floor structure connected to the room units installed on the ship.

The HEVAC and/or the other ship systems to be connected to adjacent room unit groups on the same level are preferably led for the most part horizontally between the room unit groups and the structure decks. E. g. the ventilation and sprinkler pipes are preferably led between the room unit groups and the ship's overlying structure deck. In this case the connections of the lower room unit of the room unit group to the ship systems are provided at least for the most part via the upper

room unit. If required, the grey and/or black waters going downwards may, instead, also be led horizontally below the cabin unit groups, and accordingly, the upper room unit would be connected to the system via the lower room unit. In every case the HEVAC and/or other systems of an assembled room unit group are most preferably connected to each other prior to the transfer onto the ship.

The installation system according to the invention is also based on the idea that at least two prefabricated room units are arranged to be supported and connected in the vertical direction directly to each other so that the lower room unit carries most of the weight of the upper room unit, whereby the formed room unit group is arranged to be attached to the lower structure deck of the ship or other watercraft. As is already disclosed in the above, this brings about savings in the installation work as well as material savings due to the excluded intermediate decks integrated with the ship structure.

As for the installation work the advantages are more apparent, if the room units of a room unit group are connected to each other already prior to the transfer onto the ship, but substantial advantages are achieved also in case the room units of a room unit group are arranged to be transferred onto the ship separately and to be connected to each other substantially at their final locations.

It is advantageous for the integration of the structure that a number of room units are provided with a horizontal supporting structure so that said supporting structures form together at least a part of the passageway structure and/or the deck structure and/or other floor structure connected to the room units installed on the ship. The same purpose is served, if the room units in a room unit group are provided with a common end wall element, preferably prior to the transfer onto the ship. The end wall element is secured so that it preferably forms a part of the outer board of the ship or other watercraft.

In the following the invention is described by way of example with reference to the attached drawings, in which Figure 1 shows schematically a room unit group arrangement according to the invention seen from the side; Figure 2 shows a room unit group according to Fig. 1 seen from the front; Figure 3 shows a room unit group according to Fig. 1 seen from above; Figure 4 shows schematically the ceiling and floor structure of the room units in a room unit group seen from the side;

Figure 5 illustrates the utilization of the lower room units for the transport of the upper room units on a ship; Figure 6 shows a way to attach a vertical supporting structure to the room units; and Figure 7 shows the principle of installing an end wall element into a room unit group.

Reference numeral 1 in the drawings refers to a room unit group, which comprises an upper room unit 2 and a lower room unit 3 which according to the invention carries most of the weight of the upper room unit 2. The room unit group 1 is attached to the ship by securing the lower room unit 3 to an underlying, lower structure deck 4 of the ship. The securing may be carried out by a way known per se, such as by welding, screwing, gluing or by other similar method. This way it is sufficient that the ship is provided with an overlying and underlying, i. e. lower and upper structure deck for a room unit group, whereby a separate intermediate deck is not necessary and every second so-called cabin deck may be excluded from the ship's hull structure.

The ship systems 5 to be attached to the room unit group 1, which may consist e. g. of the heating, plumbing, ventilation and electrical installation (HEVAC), fire fighting, announcement, monitoring, control and other similar systems are led at least for the most part horizontally in a space second 16 located between the room unit groups and the overlying upper structure deck 15 of the ship. Thus the room unit groups 1 themselves are connected to said ship systems 5 via the upper room unit 2 either by means of a common connection 6 or by separate room unit connections 7. When a common connection is used, the systems of the room units 2 and 3 are at least partly interconnected. Alternatively, some of the ship systems, such as the downwards going black and/or grey water pipes may, if necessary, also be led downwards, whereby the upper room unit 2 is connected to such a sewer system via the lower room unit 3. In this case the horizontal installations are provided below the room unit group. In any case, it is most advantageous, if the HEVAC and/or other systems of the room units in a room unit group are connected to each other already prior to the transfer to the ship.

The room units may be provided with horizontal structure elements 8, which may be supported at one end or at both ends by the room unit structure, most preferably by the wall structure 13 of the lower room unit 3, such as is more precisely illustrated in Fig. 6. The elements 8 may form a passageway structure, a deck structure or corresponding floor structure. Alternatively, the passageway

connected to the room unit groups, i. e. the cabin passageway, may comprise a steel deck supported by the ship structures, against which steel deck the room unit groups are sealed, or the passageway floor may be installed as an individual lightweight floor module, which is supported by the ship structures and/or the room unit groups.

Fig. 1 shows thus schematically a room unit group 1 seen from the side, i. e. seen from the ship's end. Similarly, Fig. 2 shows a room unit group 1 seen from the front, i. e. seen from the ship's side. In Fig. 2 the reference numeral 9 refers to a first space between two room unit groups in the transverse direction of the ship.

This first space may be left open. If regulations related to fire protection require that the first space 9 should be blocked, a flexible insulation may be used for the purpose or the room units may be installed on the ship overlapping each other so that the gap between the room units is covered making the floor structure 12 continuous from the fire technical point of view.

Fig. 3 shows a service niche 10 of a room unit group 1, in which most of the room unit group's connections are drawn in the vertical direction of the ship. The electrical installation 14 of a room unit may serve two or several room units in the vertical direction.

In Fig. 4 an advantageous ceiling and floor arrangement for the room units in a room unit group is illustrated seen from the side. In this case the room units are transferred separately onto the ship and most preferably also further on to the installation site itself. The lower room unit 3 is provided with a ceiling structure 11 having refractory insulation and manufactured of incombustible material in accordance with the fire protection requirements for ships. In addition, the lower room unit 3 is provided with the floor structure 12 of the upper room unit 2 being most preferably a stiff lightweight structure, which is supported substantially by the wall structure 13 of the lower room unit 3. In this case a number of lower room units 3 may be transferred onto the ship first, and most preferably transported over to their substantially correct positions. Thereafter the upper room units 2, which lack floors, are similarly transferred onto the ship and transported to their substantially correct positions on top of the lower room units 3 by utilizing the lightweight deck level formed of said floor structures 12, such as is illustrated in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 5 the arrow shown in connection with the upper room unit 2 further clarifies how the room units or alternatively the room unit groups are transferred

onboard the ship in a sideways, or lateral direction, more or less in alignment with the deck structures in the different embodiments of the present invention.

In an alternative solution the upper room unit is provided with a floor structure 12, which may form at least a part of the ceiling structure 11 of the lower room unit 3.

Figure 7 shows the principle of installing the end wall element into a room unit group 1, whereby the end wall element is most preferably connected to both room units. One approach is to use a pre-installed first end wall element 18, which is thus attached to the room unit group 1 already prior to its transfer onto the ship.

Alternatively, a second end wall element 19 may be installed in place from outside the ship once the room unit group 1 has been installed in place, and secure it so that it forms a part of the outer board 17 of the ship. The end wall element may thus serve as a window wall and comprise the window, balcony, balcony doors etc. of a room unit.

If desired, the prefabricated entire upper and lower room units may be transferred onto the ship also separately and not connected to each other until aboard the ship. The most advantageous alternative is, however, to connect the room units to one another already prior to the transfer onto the ship, whereby also the systems of the room units are connected to each other already prior to lifting the room unit group onto the ship. Thus more installation work may be transferred to an earlier working phase under better conditions. In this case the room unit group may be transferred onto the ship either in a vertical position or, if required, in a horizontal position.

Thus, the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but several modifications are conceivable in the scope of the appended claims.