Shipbuilding I Loading Computer

Recent developments in on-board loading computers

Luca Letizia odern loading computers do much more than the traditional strength and intact stability calculations. The following four examples illustrate how the shipboard loading computer is being expanded in its capabilities in a number of directions for several different ship types.
Direct damage stability calculations for tank ships

All tank vessels on international voyages must meet the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) requirements for damage stability. These deterministic regulations are contained in the MARPOL Convention for general purpose tankers, the IBC and BCH Codes for bulk chemical carriers and the IGC for gas carriers. Unlike dry cargo ships the damage survivability of tank vessels is highly dependent on the liquid cargo, cargo density and ballast loading. In 2005 several Port States, led by the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), recognized that many tank vessels carried onboard documentation to demonstrate compliance with these damage stability requirements only when the ships were loaded in accordance with the ships standard loading conditions in the approved Stability Booklet. However, during actual operations many tank ships are loaded to conditions which significantly differ from these standard loading conditions. A survey by the MCA has indicated that more than 50 % of vessels are operating to conditions which are not in the approved Stability Information Booklet and are therefore unable to demonstrate compliance with the
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IMO damage stability requirement during Port State inspections. This issue was initially brought to the attention of the IMO-Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) by the UK delegation at its 81st session in May 2006, and since then Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, UK, and INTERTANKO proposed corrective action, and this issue remains under active consideration by IMO. It is generally understood that since nearly all tank vessels use computer programs to evaluate stability and longitudinal strength for any loading condition, there is no longer a practical incentive to remain constrained to the standard loading conditions to comply with damage stability regulations. This is particularly true for tankers that change their loading patterns often, such as product, chemical and parcel tankers. It is also recognized that modern double hull tankers' stability is generally more vulnerable to damage than older single hull tankers, and that the new regulations (including bottom raking damage) are generally more onerous than past damage stability regulations. For these reasons the use of approved loading computers which perform direct damage stability calculations is a practical solution to demonstrate compliance with the damage stability regulations for non-standard loading conditions. Loading computer programs with this feature are referred to as IACS Type 3 Loading Instruments as specified in IACS URL 5 which defines Type 3 as software calculating intact stability and damage stability by direct application of pre-programmed damage cases for each loading condition.

In practice the application of an IACS Type 3 Loading Computer to demonstrate operational compliance with the IMO damage stability requirements is often the best option for tanker operators, since it allows at one time a high degree of flexibility in loading patterns while ensuring at all times that the ship be operated at the highest level of safety. In response to requests from several ship operators, Herbert Software Solutions, Inc. (HSSI) developed a module for their industry-standard loading program CargoMax. The CargoMax Direct Damage Stability (DDS) module is a product specifically designed to allow tanker operators to load nonstandard cargos or non-standard configurations, and ensure the conditions operationally comply with the damage stability requirements as well as the intact stability and longitudinal strength requirements. The DDS module allows the user to investigate compliance of any given loading condition, and can be used to demonstrate compliance during any Flag State, Port State, Classification, or independent chartering inspections. While IMO continues its discussion of the issue, HSSI points out that its CargoMax DDS option is a mature and thoroughly tested feature that has been operating on dozens of ships for over a decade and has been approved by ABS, LR, DNV, and BV Class.
Integrated analysis for containerships

Containership operations often require that cargo preplanning, terminal operations and final validation of the ship's onboard loading are all evaluated by independent computer systems. Even minor differences

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Screen shot: bending and length calculation

Screen shot: stability calculation

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Screen shot: container loading

in the resulting calculations by these independent systems for stability, strength, visibility, hazardous cargo segregation, and lashings can lead to significant difficulties at the time of a ship's departure. A ship's Master must make the final determination of the suitability of the departure load. However, modern cargo operations leave little time between the finalization of the loading and the ship's departure for the crew to adequately validate the loading. The shipboard loading computer is required to be approved by Class for stability, strength, and possibly lashing calculations, while the shore-side systems are not typically independently approved or validated. Navis LLC is the supplier of the PowerStow and SPARCS systems, one of the most widely used container shore-side pre-planning and terminal operating systems in the world. Working in direct cooperation with Navis, as a Navis-Ready Partner, HSSI has developed two solutions to this issue of calculation results discrepancy between shore-side and approved on-board computer systems. Solution 1 is to utilize PowerStow itself as the shipboard loading computer. HSSI will build the PowerStow model, validate all results, and facilitate Class approval of PowerStow as the official Loading Computer. All calculations between the shore-side and shipboard versions of PowerStow will exactly match. Container load descriptions, lashing information, as well as ship's ballast and consumables tankage can be shared between shore-side and shipboard PowerStow installations using STIFF format files. Solution 2 is called a Naval Architecture Plug-in for Navis' PowerStow and SPARCS products. This Plug-in works as an integral part of PowerStow and SPARCS to perform trim, stability, strength, visibility, stack weight, and lashing analysis using 3rd party calculation tools. PowerStow's use of a Plugin, provided by HSSI, or other 3rd parties, can assure that the shore-side PowerStow

system is making the same calculations as the approved shipboard loading computer, and that the container loadings can be passed between the two system using BAPLIE format files. The combination of PowerStow and the HSSI Plug-in has been approved by several major ship classification societies as a shipboard loading computer. The lashing analysis module can perform container securing validation on a wide range of lashing configurations according to standards developed by Lloyd's Register, ABS, Germanischer Lloyd, Class NY, and DNV.
Latest IACS requirements and grain stability features for bulk carriers

Recently, supplemental requirements for vessels carrying bulk or grain cargos have been implemented by IACS. The S1A requirement is a secondary strength evaluation, and is provided to ensure that the incorrect loading of a bulk vessel does not result in unreasonable shear force or bending moment. This is typically implemented as a series of acceptable and un-acceptable loading diagrams, for single and adjacent holds. The S17 requirement is a damage stability evaluation to ensure that from a strength standpoint, a bulk vessel can survive any individual bulk hold being flooded. All bulk cargo is assumed to remain in the hold, but the cargo volume is assigned a permeability to calculate the amount of flooded water in the hold. The resulting strength results from each hold are compared against the vessel's S17 strength allowables for shear force and bending moment. The CargoMax loading program by HSSI has fully implemented these two IACS requirements for bulkers. For SlA requirements, CargoMax provides a simple table of the SlA requirements for each hold or set of holds, the actual loading for those holds, and a pass/fail status, to give the user a very quick and concise report to demonstrate S1A compliance. For S17 requirements, CargoMax gives the user a function to run the S17 calculations

on the entered loading condition. The cargo in each hold is assigned a permeability, and each hold is subsequently damaged, the equilibrium waterline is calculated, and the amount of flooded water in the hold is determined. The strength results for each damaged hold is compared against the S17 strength allowables, and an overall S17 status is displayed. Additionally, CargoMax gives the user the capability to individually investigate the damage conditions for any hold. CargoMax has recently added additional features to simplify providing Grain Stability Reports to ports and docks. Currently, CargoMax can take the information entered in the program, and automatically proved the standard National Cargo Bureau, Transport Canada, and Australian Maritime Safety Authority Grain Loading reports. Also of interest for both Bulk Carrier and Tanker operators is CargoMax's Load / Discharge Sequencer module. Each step in the load / discharge or ballast water exchange sequence can be evaluated to insure all relevant strength, stability, draft, or other criteria are met.
On-board casualty response for passenger ships

The International Maritime Organization has under its consideration several proposals for requirements or recommendations dealing with on-board casualty response for passenger ships. Among these are damage control plans, damage control software, decision support software, and flooding detection and monitoring systems. Several passenger ship owners and operators are already leading the way in providing prototype on-board systems to perform damage stability, grounding, and progressive flooding analysis integrated with flooding detection, tank gauging, draft monitoring, and watertight door status monitoring. HSSI has been setting the standard for shipboard stability and load management with our CargoMax software for over 30 years. We have recently incorporated the calculation engine of our HECSALV prod-

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uct (widely used by navies, coast guards, classification societies, and salvage companies for ship casualty response and ship salvage) into our on-board loading computer for passenger vessels, CruiseMax. The CruiseMax proven system combines rigorously tested algorithms with user friendly interfaces to provide quick and consistent results, insuring the safety of the vessel is maintained at all times. During a vessel emergency your most valuable assets are time and confidence. CruiseMax provides timely and accurate results onboard when it's needed most. CruiseMax allows the ship's officers to quickly collect and process the available data, define the extreme bounds of the problem, and evaluate multiple scenarios for remedial action.
Ballast Water Exchange

utilizes Graphical Information System (GIS) mapping of shipping routes considering uptakedischarge location relationships. The entered data is used to automate the generation of the IMO, USCG and other regional ballast water reporting logs and forms. Annual updates are provided to insure compliance with latest regulations.
Background - Herbert Engineering Corp. (HEC)

bridges on the Matson barge Islander in the mid-1980s, and the first post-panamax container ship the APL C10 Class in 1988. HEC has been actively involved in the development of container strength and container securing standards and has participated in the development of individual in-house shipping company and various classification societies' cargo securing standards.
Background - Herbert Software Solutions, Inc. (HSSI)

The Ballast Management Sequencer provides a planning, advisory and recordkeeping tool to aid the mariner in maintaining compliance with the mandatory international, national and regional Ballast Water Management regulations. The Sequencer

Herbert Engineering Corp. (HEC) is an employee owned US Corporation founded in 1963, with offices in San Francisco, Annapolis , Glasgow and Shanghai, and is actively involved in the design of ships, marine transportation systems, and offshore structures. HEC provides marine consulting and software development services to ship owners, operators, charterers, shipyards, and government agencies. HEC participated in the early development of container ships and was involved in many early innovations and refinements in the carriage of containers on ships including; development of the Hawaiian Enterprise & Hawaiian Progress for Matson Navigation in the late 1960s, the APL C9 Class containerships in the late 1970s, the development of the first crosslash container securing system in the mid1970s, the first use of container lashing

HSSI, a wholly owned subsidiary of HEC, develops leading edge stability, load management, and salvage software solutions for the marine and offshore industries. HSSI has been delivering and supporting its CargoMax product line of Classification Society approved shipboard loading instruments for over 30 years with installations on over 1,500 vessels. CargoMax is a tool to maximize cargo utilization, increase container lashing efficiency, monitor margins of safety during cargo operations, and improve safety by reducing human error. In addition to our work with Navis, HSSI delivers and supports the HECSALV casualty response software. HECSALV, based on the same product model as CargoMax, enables rapid evaluation of damaged conditions of a ship, including the analysis of intact condition, free-floating damage cases, oil outflow prediction, and various types of groundings.
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Luca Letizia, Ph.D. CEng Managing Director Herbert Engineering Europe (UK) Ltd. e-mail lletizia@herbert.com

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