The Korean Register  has publishedguidance outlining the technical measures necessary to safely load and carrycontainers on bulk cargo ships.

With the recent unprecedented boom in themaritime transport market, demand from shipping companies wanting to load andtransport containers on bulk cargo ships has increased significantly as a wayto resolve the shortage of container ships.

Bulk cargo ships are used for the transportof unpacked cargo such as grain or ore, and are not usually designed for thepurpose of carrying containers.

Therefore, in order to safely loadcontainers, additional measures such as safe loading, the lashing ofcontainers, the installation of fixed fire extinguishers and the protection ofdangerous goods need to be followed, and technical reviews of the structuralstrength and stability of the ship must be undertaken.

KR has published new technical guidancelisting the technical matters which must be examined in order to safely loadand carry containers on general bulk cargo ships with no containertransportation facilities.

The guidance is divided into two parts, firstlyrequirements for cargo hold loading and secondly, requirements for on-deckloading. Whether a ship meets the requirements must be examined byclassification societies. Once a ship meets the requirements, it can load andcarry containers from a technical perspective, even if it is not designed forcontainer transport.