Hyundai Heavy Industries unveils container ship design without tying

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has developed a container ship design that does not require lashing.

HHI has removed the lashing bridge and hatch in its new design, which has been approved by the ABS and the Liberian Registry. Instead, the shipyard has developed a device called a portable bench, which can receive a load of containers on deck and transfer it to the hull. The company has expanded unit guidelines to allow containers to be stacked vertically on deck. Containers on top of the deck are secured by extended unit rails, eliminating the need for lashing.

“Container crashes into the sea are one of the biggest design and operational challenges faced by container ships. The design of unlashed container ships not only enhances safety and environmental protection, but also improves the operational efficiency of container handling operations,” commented Thomas Klenum, Executive Vice President, Liberia Registry road.

Won Ho-joo, senior deputy general manager of Hyundai Heavy Industries, said: "This is a creative technology that can fundamentally eliminate a big topic in the recent container shipping industry - bundling-related work and resulting loss of cargo."

With the capacity of container ships nearly quadrupling this century, container strapping has become a problem.