A major research project by Lloyd’s Register (LR) has discovered a means to improve the way containers are handled and carried.
Containership owners and managers are forever seeking sleeker and more streamlined ways to load, stack and carry their boxes as vessel sizes continue to expand and economies of scale to match them accordingly.
The results of this new research project by LR means that in future, ultra-large container ships (ULCS) using the new method could potentially load up to 19% more cargo weight.
So what will be the impact of this breakthrough technology on global ports, trade routes, suppliers and differing ship sizes? And how will it affect the stowage, lashings and motions of ships coping with storms and extreme weather in mid-ocean?
Then the questions: When will the new Rules apply? And should I go ahead and order ships with these new Rules in mind?
LR answer these and many other key questions about this unusual breakthrough in the new January issue of Lloyd’s Register’s Horizons marine magazine.