Abstract: A barge-carrying ship comprising a crane of a lifting-beam type installed at the end of the ship for hoisting barges afloat, runway rails laid on the upper deck and along the inner walls of the both sides of the hull, barge-end-holding trucks disposed in pairs on the rails to travel thereon, each pair of said trucks being capable of taking over a hoisted barge from the crane and carrying the barge while supporting the same at both ends, and another lifting-beam crane installed amidships along a hatch opening of the deck for hoisting the barge from the pair of trucks and lowering or raising the load.

Abstract: A barge-carrying shiphaving an opening at one end provided with an elevator for lifting barges from the water surface. Rails are laid in the fore-and-aft direction on the upper deck and along the inner walls of both sides of the ship's hull for the transportation of the lifted barges to the points where they are stowed. Barge trucks equipped with low-lift means for raising and lowering the loads thereon are movable along the rails, a pair of said rails. Supports are provided protruding inwardly from the inner walls to support the barges after being moved to stowed accomodation by the trucks.