RABE Bulk carriers: guidance to operators on the inspection of cargo holds The master’s guide to where to look and what to look for in the inspection of bulk carrier holds.WHERE TO LOOK AND WHAT TO LOOK FOR Type ros section of bulk cme ough cargo Ro Where to look ) Side shell plating, ® Connection of bulkhead plating to side shel Connection of side shell frames and tend brackets to the shell plating and hopperside tank plating by close-up inspection, @ @® Connection of side shell frames and ed brackets tothe sell plating and topside tank plating What to look for Cracks in welds or plates. Leaks in welds or plates. Distortion of plating, Punctured plating. Cracked plating. Heavily indented plating. Buckled plating Corrosion and wastage. Cracks Corrosion and wastage Excessively deformed frames or brackets. Detached frames or brackets. ‘See photographs on buck cover. Cracks. Corrosion and wastage Excessively deformed frames or brackets. Detached frames or bracketsREPRINTED FROM TOMAR, EU 1001 Bulk carriers: ' seeking solutions to the s-fety rroblem There has been an unacceptable rise in the incidence of bulk cartier casualties culminating in the loss of 12 vessels and over 200 lives in 1990, The rise in the rate of casualties continues Unabated into 1991—six ships of bulk cartier configuration have gone missing already this year. Concerned by these alarming figures, LR nas published the interim findings of ts study on bulk. cartier safety in a bid to raise industry awareness of the probable causes and possible solutions to this crisis. DURING 1990 there was a significant umber of hulk carrier eastalties vessels experiencing extensive struc tural failure, Twelve of these vessels sank, Of the vessels which were lt three were combination carriers and rine were large bulk carriers. On theit final voyages, all three combination carriers and sie of the bulk carriers were carrying. iron ore cargoes. AML except two of the 12 vessels lost were lover I8 years old. Prior to 1990, the casualty rate for this vessel type aver aged six a vear Rulk carriers by the very nature of their cargoes, are acknowledged by the industry to be the heavy workhorses of the world feet but, nonetheless, 1 was alarmed by this extraordinary rise in the cast alty rate and last November it initites! cage oles Lesage way an investigation inte the likely causes ‘of incidents to this ship (wpe. LR’ Advanced Studies and Rule development group east within the Technical Planning and Development slepartment trop have been conduct- ing the investigation ER basa vast confidential data base containing, ‘basic’ and “defect” data for 17 000 shups which have been built cine 1040) WW ER class or which have born classed with TRat sone stage of thet hie This, together with PR studios estab lishing changing trends in operational aspects, providiad a rich sone ot material tor the investigation Adhitional details weeny solieted fn ER surveyors whi were asked to pay particular attention to the teamnes tnd brackets in the brstts ot these ships toring serves, and trony buh carer lowers and peratons whe have respondead positively to LR request for antormation Om LR in ats ettorts toclinnnate o. the xctttence ot eFa¥hIN st the biggest problems teins senerab attitade ot the mglastey Teas tonight by some inthe andustre that hhgesly matureot th a racing a these wim feito ite to th cargoes and the procedtes of there service ite. Fhouisht only midway through the props, fol steers operate Fergason, manager ot 19 lent that the reliability of these yess! can be improved! if those an the indi tre can come tog beter apprevintion fo the commercial pressures on the operators and are prepared to rep proise the stractural arrangements ond Survey rexyuirements In adkbition, the development of an awareness by the operators of the news tor maintenance and the potential con {quences of locaisea corrosion damage to the side tnacture shoul impeove the sitestion TR stu carriage of oresand coals, since 1 fas fests! tha ort taf casualties involves! ships earrvany, argues of this pe Another tactor commen to the I Jy concentrates om theShups lost or missing is their age—the average ae oF the teases Was found tube 19 years, Available information ‘on ship losses betiveen 1984 and April TH stents that the loss rate nereases With age, Bets ears, ship losses an the five to nine inthese ‘age group were les than one per cent Wwhule they rise to tour per cent tor the 201024 year group. Among the larger ‘Vessels (0 (AN te 75 000 dist this trend still holds with the luss of sever, anal halt percent of the 20024 year ‘stoup, The rate of loss tor the same ‘age group inthe greater than 100 000 1 stands at seven per cent ‘Structural defects— the critical areas rom the information available to became evident that sortuston and cracks rans and their brackets tsa signiti sant occurrence. Corrosion had, in nun cases, led ta stgniticant reduc thon an support to the side shell which tiv turn gesulted in the cracking of the side shell plating an the eventaal Iungtess ob water Wo the old spaces The cafgioes themselves, DY Virtue, ‘ot thelF corrosive properties, pa larly cnatswith a high sulphur con: tent. can quickly diminish hold st work. This esaverbated when the hold temperature cold er outer hull temperatures to cause Condensation or ‘siveating at the intertave ot the side shell and topside tanks. The vondensation then x tates to the mare frame webs and the Ioser brachet sannections to the hopper sshere it beyins ts corrosive action, The frequent carriage of high sulphur cargoes will, predictably, worsen this situation, hoangh corrosion of this type is the primary cause ota tural taslure, as David Robinson, prin: “opal Suevevor of askD points out, there coats wth th ue ot the struc ae other contributory factors such as the design sontguration and service conditions which tend to dictate the location and extent ot physical dan sage. For esample, the presence of large hatchway openings over the cargo area reduces the tursional resistance of the hull and creates tosal points for stress coneontration at the corners of the hatchwways. The strustocal arrange: nents for transverse bulkheads can also create, under some loading condi tions, concentrations of load in the deck strips betwween the hatchisay’. Condensaten ga Sloemon ong ‘oe spring Sta fatng as seen ner. Te teqvertcomade of congoes nin angh In conjunction with areas of vulner ability, same aspects of the cargo hat ding itself thal structural components In response ‘cause damage to essen to commercial pressures, cane grabs have become heavier over the years n unladen iron-ore grab in the port ‘ot Emo, Rotterdam, serghy over M) tons—and stevedores a increasing pressure to complete the port loading / unloading procedure dang passes as parssible The use of bulldozers and hystraulie h damaging to the structures since many ft the vessels were not designed oF built to withstand such harsh methods cf cargo handling LER research to date highlights several types of recurring defects and their location’ mers i the bolls can also be very 1. General and localised corrosion of ‘main frames, 2 Grab and bulldozer damage to the main frame lower brackets 3 Craching at main trame bracket tows 4 Cracking at the intersextion ot the inner bottom plating and the hopper plaung. 5 Grab damage to the inner bottom, hopper and stool platings 6 Cracking at ore and att extremities of topside tank structures, 7 Corrosion within topside tanks 8 Plate panel buckling ot crass deck strips and sttten ny structure 9 Cracking of hatch coamings 20 Craching at hatch corners. The significant differences in the patterns of damage among sister ships ‘sould seem to indicate that none of the above listed damage should be thought go be inevitable, It also lends weight to the theory that other factors, such ay operational procedures, do sea bearing an the health of a ship. It should be remembered that the gen= eral structural configuration of bulk. carriers could quickly aggravate any damage condition. A single hull bulk, carrier has individual side main frames which, if rendered ineffective, ‘sill place additonal loads on the adja sent frames leading toa progressive failure throughout known as the ‘domino etext The study reveals that itis common to find that bulk carrier main frames have suffered from highly localised cortosion on their webs adjacent to the side shell and at the bracket web con- nection to the hopper. In addition to this, the presence of cracking at the bracket toxs has been found to be 's concentra- usual an regions of tion, Where separate brackets are used, the cracking location is atthe bracket whereas with integral brackets the crack will toe ofthe frames more usually conve at the toe of the hopper and topside tank. Inthe latter cease, the cracking is almost self-limit- ing but, where separate brackets are fitted, the fracture quickly propagates tu the side shell leaving the brackets intact