MSC will become the first vessel owner to implement an anti-rolling technology from DNV for its ships.
At the SMM trade fair in Hamburg on 7 September, classification society DNV and global container shipping line MSC signed a contract to implement the new DNV Anti-Roll Assist system and ARCS (Anti-Roll for Containerships) class notation in some 100 vessels.
With the new contract, MSC is the first company to install the application and the first in the world to implement a ship-specific tool to avoid container losses due to parametric or synchronous rolling.
The contract covers dozens of newbuildings, ships in operation, and vessels to be constructed, ranging in size from 1,800 to MSC’s largest vessels at some 24,000 TEU.
DNV’s new Anti-Roll Assist helps vessel captains to recognise and avoid the risk of parametric and synchronous resonant rolling.
By using a ship-specific hydrodynamic database the system can provide a risk picture for the vessel, based on its heading, speed, loading condition, and the environmental conditions.
MSC will be the first ship owner to implement the ARCS notation and will integrate the application in their onboard weather routing systems.
“At MSC the safety of our crews, vessels, and cargoes will always be our highest priority,” said Giuseppe Gargiulo, Head of Newbuildings at MSC.
“We are always looking for new solutions to minimise risk and the new Anti-Roll Assist gives MSC a new tool that can empower our people both on-board and onshore.
“By implementing the new application on our vessels captains and crew can both plan ahead and react in the moment when a potentially critical situation is identified – enhancing our safety culture.”
“To have a company like MSC embrace this new solution, is incredibly gratifying,” said Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO Maritime of DNV.
“We are very excited about the potential of Anti-Roll Assist and the ARCS notation to help our customers enhance the safety of their cargoes and vessels.”
Anti-Roll Assist can stand alone or be integrated into other onboard systems, such as lashing computers, weather routing tools, or navigation systems.
This is supported by the ARCS class notation which enables shipowners to demonstrate to their customers that a strategy to minimise the risk of container loss is in place.
Owners can meet the requirements of the ARCS class notation by implementing a software solution which meets designated functional, technical and performance requirements, particularly a stringent hydrodynamic approach to calculating the risk.
Major container losses have been reported in recent years: including lost containers on the ZIM Kingston and, in 2020, when over 1,900 containers were lost or damaged on a Ocean Network Express vessel in severe weather.
