Lloyd’s Register Group Limited is a maritime classification society; that is currently classing 4 ULCS vessels of 20,150 teu. It is being done for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, a Japanese company. Samsung Heavy Industries built the ULCs. LR also engages in classifying 2 more 20,050 teu ships, built by Imabari Shipbuilding at Saijo shipyard, Japan. They are being built for Shoei Kisen Kaisha. These vessels are due for delivery in 2017 and will operate on the Asia-Europe route.
LR, in its capacity as a marine classification society, sets safety and environmental standards for the design, construction and operation of ships. They also support the development of new technologies, innovations and provide periodic guidelines to help develop safer models of ships that will play a vital role in the immediate and long-term future of shipping.
Given the present day trend for ships to go bigger in capacity and volume, the LR tech team ran an investigative study to assess ULCSs capacity to traverse turbulent seas while handling ever increasing amounts of cargo.
LR’s key finding was based on vessel speed. Their study demonstrated that the rolling motions felt inside the ship is directly related to the speed at which it travelled. This finding could be of crucial importance, given that cargo damage due to rolling is a significant contributor to the loss in most vessels. LR has now come up with a combination method wherein, the shipping speed, its stability, the height and direction of waves are all taken in as contributing variables.
LR also highly recommends the use of fully automated twist locks to secure cargoes that will require minimum human intervention. This kind of security in combination with high lashing bridges would guarantee ships to carry the stack of 10 or more tiers of containers on their decks.
Source: lloyd’s register
