How TopTier project is addressing container loss challenge

Riviera’s How an industrywide project boosts container safety webinar, held in July this year, saw a panel comprised of Kaleris senior product manager Gerald Lange, Maersk head of naval architecture, fleet management and technology Emiliano Austi, and MARIN senior project manager Jos Koning discuss TopTier.

The project was led and managed by research organisation MARIN and aimed to identify and recommend improvements for transport, stowing and securing containers and provide technical understanding for safe designs and innovations in the future.​

TopTier ran over three years and used scientific analyses, studies, real-life measurements and data collection to develop and publish specific, actionable recommendations to reduce the risk of containers lost overboard.​

The project had six working groups focused on specific risks:​ WG1: realistic safety margins for container and lashing gear​; WG2: uncertainty in stow planning and loading​, communication between ship and shore; WG 3: motions of vessels at sea and onboard measurements​ of these motions; WG4: securing loads​, behavior of stacks; WG5: crew governing role and control​; WG6: regulatory reform.

Mr Austi says, “The goal was to build on collaborating and learnings, and longer term to create regulatory changes. We worked on short and long term actions.” He describes how there was a ’melting pot’ of 43 stakeholders with different ideas and different logic, which added to complexity challenges. 

He adds, “All the input centres around understanding, testing and simulations.” The project looked at identifying root causes, current practice and best practice, understanding parametric roll and understanding crew. “There was deep analysis on stowage, analysis of a full stack of containers, simulation with crew, and the validation of lashing gear and container performance.”

Mr Austi explains it is “based on frontline experience and engaged with global policy”. The outputs are now available, allowing industry to learn from them.

Mr Koning says one of the problems the project faced was there is no centralised data being obtained for container losses at sea. But a stakeholder in the project collected information on container losses from carriers, and worked out on average over the past several years, 1,482 containers were lost at sea every year. 

Mr Koning describes the metaphor created to represent TopTier: a bucket being used to carry water from A to B. “You need to carry the bucket with as much water as possible and not spill a drop,” he says. “The discussion needs to continue. Where we are now is a starting point to where we will be in some years’ time.”

Mr Lange highlights how the project learned parametric roll is one of the main causes of container incidents and needs to be addressed. As part of the project, Kaleris developed a real-time lashing forces calculation. “This was a main driver for our company lashing monitor [monitors a ship’s motions and lashing forces] that is already used and makes safety more transparent,” he said. There are warnings, on board and onshore, when the ship’s motion reaches its design and critical rolling angle. The lashing monitor’s operational guidance provides advice about a safe course and speed in heavy weather to avoid dangerous situations like parametric rolling.

He highlights how a problem is data sharing. “In modern terminals, each of the companies around this ecosystem have their own systems. Our solution is a Cargo Data Exchange Hub. It should be open to other vendors and systems relying on open interfaces, and open to ATI. We are opening our databases to others and want stakeholders to join us,” says Mr Lange.

The Hub is a cloud-based platform to enable all collaborators around a port call to exchange data with full insights of the MACS3 calculations with the currently used software version, profile and settings.

Key takeouts include how to take the learnings forward. The panellists highlight the importance of there being continued discussion to be aware of each other’s challenges and support the regulatory side. Indeed, moving forward, TopTier aims to achieve improvements in the regulatory framework, and some findings have already been submitted to IMO.

Mr Lange sums up, “Navigators look at who can help them in heavy seas and identify risk. There are tools on the market that can identify risk and help to avoid container incidents. Data sharing is a problem for stakeholders and we hope to bring the parties together. If data is better, it will help avoid incidents.”