Avoid cargo loss with new dynamic stability tools

The rising tide of high-profile container losses linked to extreme weather and parametric rolling has thrust concerns about cargo safety to the fore. In response, a growing number of carriers are embracing new technologies that help mitigate emerging risks while preserving the bottom line.

Pressure to adopt fresh tactics follows a surge of costly stack collapses involving containerships in the 13,000-teu to 14,000-teu range.

What concerns organisations like the World Shipping Council (WSC) is what it describes as a “worrying break in the downward trend for losses”. The WSC 2022 report estimates that 1,629 containers were lost at sea each year on average between 2008 and 2021, an 18% increase from the total recorded 14 years ago.

While cargo loss events can stem from poor stowage, structural failure, or poor lashing, many are due to dynamic stability issues caused by deceiving weather or ocean conditions such as long swell periods. These stability issues can appear suddenly and cause dangerous vessel movements.

The rising tide of high-profile container losses linked to extreme weather and parametric rolling has thrust concerns about cargo safety to the fore. In response, a growing number of carriers are embracing new technologies that help mitigate emerging risks while preserving the bottom line.

Pressure to adopt fresh tactics follows a surge of costly stack collapses involving containerships in the 13,000-teu to 14,000-teu range.

What concerns organisations like the World Shipping Council (WSC) is what it describes as a “worrying break in the downward trend for losses”. The WSC 2022 report estimates that 1,629 containers were lost at sea each year on average between 2008 and 2021, an 18% increase from the total recorded 14 years ago.

While cargo loss events can stem from poor stowage, structural failure, or poor lashing, many are due to dynamic stability issues caused by deceiving weather or ocean conditions such as long swell periods. These stability issues can appear suddenly and cause dangerous vessel movements.

Dynamic stability tool with StormGeo and DNV technology

By leveraging our experience and teaming up with DNV, the new, easy-to-use dynamic stability tool can help the shipping industry avoid critical issues such as parametric rolling leading to exceeded lashing loads. It allows crews to apply weather conditions along the planned route and get alerts for areas with dynamic stability risks.

StormGeo’s s-Planner and DNV’s Anti-Roll Assist database are used to predict high-risk weather conditions specifically targeted at vessels with DNV class approval. s-Planner is part of StormGeo’s s-Suite, combining solutions for fleet performance management, voyage management and vessel routing to support the increasing demands of safety, compliance and decarbonisation in the shipping industry.

With s-Planner, captains visualise the predictions directly on the route using a traffic light scheme based on rolling risks (yellow for dangerous parts of the route and red for parts to avoid altogether). For each leg of the voyage, the tool helps captains identify the necessary corrective actions to avoid the risk.

s-Planner colours voyage legs with risk for dynamic stability issues.

The polar diagram visualises the loads on lashings, using DNV’s Anti-Roll Assist database to generate the visualisation, where crews can scroll through the route to view predictions for each waypoint. The vessel position and heading are also displayed on the diagram, making it easy for crews to analyse the situation and take precautions, such as changing speed or adjusting the planned route to avoid dangerous areas.

Ensure a safe voyage

Cargo loss and damage not only put vessels out of operation but also impact the cargo owner and even our oceans. Reach out to StormGeo today to ensure your crew, vessel, cargo, and our environment stay safe even during the most severe weather at sea.

This article was first published by TradeWinds on August 1, 2022