The bulk carrier side shell and its vulnerabilities

摘要

Regular readers will recall that in the October 2019 issue of this magazine I mentioned matters discussed at the PIANC-RINA conference held at the Institute of Civil Engineers last spring, at which ship/shore interfaces were scrutinised, mainly from the viewpoint of the civil engineers responsible for installation of fendering.In the latter part of the 20th century a significantly large number of bulk carriers disappeared whilst on ocean passages. Most were loaded with dense cargoes such as iron ore but also steel products on the smaller ships. I was a member of the project management team of the Formal Safety Assessment for Bulk Carriers (FSABC) that examined these casualties closely on behalf of IMO. At the above conference I also noted that the paper presented by Rob Tustin and Steve Osborne left one question open, namely that there might be a phantom menace, with bulk carriers in particular, in relation to ship/berth interfaces.