Strainstall Hull Monitering for HHI-built Containership

Strainstall Marine, a part of James Fisher and Sons plc, has recently secured an order to supply their StressAlert Hull Stress Monitoring system (HSMS) to Hyundai Heavy Industries for their new 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) carrier. The container carrier is owned by China Shipping Container Lines and installation of the HSMS is scheduled for October 2014.

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) earlier this year won a $1.4 billion order to build five 18,000 TEU class and five 14,000 TEU class containerships from the United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) on August 29. The 18,000 TEU carriers are the largest container vessels ever to be built.

Strainstall Marine’s StressAlert HSMS monitoring technology is the result of over 40 years at the leading edge of load measurement, strain and stress determination. Hull structural integrity is continuously monitored and displayed, and advanced algorithms contained within StressAlert enable predictions of hull status and deterioration to be determined.

StressAlert enhances vessel safety due to a reduction in high stress incidences, enabling fuel savings and facilitating effective voyage management. The system provides instant access to the vessel’s hull stress status, whether derived from dynamic wave action or induced stresses from cargo operations, allowing the ships master to alter course and speed to reduce stress levels. In some conditions a minor change of heading will result in significant reductions in stress levels without the need to reduce speed, and in other situations decreasing or increasing speed may be beneficial. During cargo operations, loading and discharging plans can be adapted to minimise the effects of structural stress.