Reederei Claus-Peter Offen Installs New GL RSCS Notation

Reederei Claus-Peter Offen has implemented Germanischer Lloyd's (GL) Route Specific Container Stowage (RSCS) notation on the first of its vessels.

This begins a roll out of the system which will initially cover a dozen ships of its fleet. The newly introduced class notation, the first of its kind, allows operators to load more containers on deck, accelerate cargo operations in ports and maintain a higher degree of loading flexibility, while at the same time maintaining required safety levels.

Daniel Abt, GL Cargo Stowage & Securing Expert, and Klaus Müller, GL Surveyor, presented a class certificate with the new notation added to Werner Teichmann, Head of Reederei Claus-Peter Offen's Nautical Department onboard the MV Maersk Surabaya in Hamburg.

GL developed the new class notation for route dependent container stowage, based on long-term statistical data on wave conditions. This notation allows for route dependent container stowage schemes that take into account the variance in sea conditions on particular sea lanes. It is built around the realistic determination of route specific loads on the deck containers and their lashing systems and will enable container lines to carry more cargo, while accelerating cargo operations in ports and maintaining a higher degree of loading flexibility.

"We have worked closely with GL to develop and bring this notation into effect on our vessels. It will give us increased commercial flexibility on several routes, while at the same time enabling our vessels, regardless of size, to maximise their loading capacity for their individual routes," said Mr Teichmann. "Safety is of course our paramount concern and the new RSCS notation from GL allows us to take advantage of this increased flexibility, while maintaining the same high level of security for our vessels and their cargo."

"Shipping is becoming increasingly specialized, with owners designing vessels to their particular needs. In operations however, we identified the potential for operational procedures which would be tailored to a particular seastate and route," said Jan-Olaf Probst, GL's Global Ship Type Director.

"Our analysis shows that departing from the traditional load rules for unrestricted service on a typical Asia to Europe route, for example, will allow operators to implement more flexible weight distribution and increase real container weights."

With the new class notation GL offers container lines a tailor made container stowage and loading plan for an individual vessel and its particular route. It is available for all GL classed container vessels, but requires lashing software which will assist the cargo planner, as well as the crew, in providing safe stowage and lashing. When applying this scheme, the cargo arrangement will enable heavier boxes to be loaded on the upper tiers of deck stacks, more units loaded on the outer stacks and even an additional tier of empty containers where line of sight is not affected.