Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has obtained design approval for its new-concept containership that does not require fixing of containers.
The new design, described as the world’s first of its kind, has won approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the Liberian Flag Administration.
After loading containers inside a cargo load, a containership closes the hatch cover and loads another batch of containers again to maximise capacity.
For this, it is necessary to fix the containers loaded on the hatch cover to a steel structure called a “lashing bridge,” which acts as a support. This procedure is also known as ‘lashing’.
HHI has removed the lashing bridge and hatch cover by using a new-concept device called a portable bench – “SkyBenchV2” – that receives the load of the containers on the deck and transfers it to the hull.
The company said it has instead extended the cell guide, which enables a vertical stacking of containers, to the deck. The containers on top of the deck are fixed by the extended cell guide, eliminating the need for lashing.
Omitting lashing results in more time- and cost-efficient loading operations, enhancing convenience, efficiency, and safety of container unloading work, as well as resolving the issue of lost containers at sea, according to HHI.
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The company has completed domestic and foreign patent applications for the lashing-free container ship and portable bench.
ABS specialists will soon begin working with HHI’s Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and its autonomous navigation subsidiary, Avikus, to integrate autonomous and remote-control functions into vessels.
