A fresh warning about the challenge posed by mega-containerships that get into trouble has been issued by the Nordic Association of Marine Insurers (Cefor).

Multiple risks arise from the growing number of ultra large container vessels (ULCVs), according to a report from Cefor’s technical forum.

The risks range from the difficulty of fighting fires, problems in responding to a grounding, lightering large numbers of containers, the availability of repair yards and even difficulty in procuring the heavy-gauge steel needed for parts of the hull, as well as navigation and crew training issues.

The Cefor report says there are 69 ULCVs of more than 14,500 teu in service, with the fleet due to grow to 148 vessels by the time all known newbuildings arrive.

The carrying capacity of containerships has grown with each generation of vessels — the cumulative increase over the past 50 years is 1,200%.

Ship size has increased from 1,500 teu in the late 1960s to 5,000 teu in the 1980s, and from 8,000 teu in the 1990s to the latest vessels of 19,000 teu.

TradeWinds recently reported on the naming of the first 20,150-teu ship for Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), the MOL Triumph.

The Cefor forum, chaired by Steinar Sivertsen, the Norwegian Hull Club’s technical chief, noted there were rumours of 24,000-teu vessels on the drawing board.

The report acknowledges the economies of scale offered by ULCVs but suggests that insufficient account is being taken about the risks posed.

“We are not in any way Luddites but find that the development of these huge vessels is calling for concerted efforts from all parties having a stake in the transportation of container by sea,” said the technical forum, which explained the paper was meant to encourage discussion of the challenges involved.

‘Unprecedented impact’

“If not properly addressed, we might be facing a situation with a major incident that could have an unprecedented impact on the environment and infrastructure, not to mention damage to society and insurers.”

The forum observed that fires on containerships could be very challenging, with boxes often containing hazardous and toxic substances, not to mention wrongly declared goods.

There are particular difficulties in fighting fires in boxes below deck level, with water not generally viable and carbon dioxide (CO2) rarely successful, while allowing a fire to burn out in a controlled manner exposes other cargo to heat and smoke damage.

There is a lack of equipment to lighter a grounded large containership, as the size of vessels overtook salvage capacity years ago.

The Cefor report suggests that a discharge rate of four containers an hour from a stricken ship is optimistic, so taking even 4,000 boxes off a vessel would take 42 days of around-the-clock working.

The number of repair yards with dry docks able to handle a ULCV is also very limited, especially when a casualty requires unscheduled availability.

Steel plate more than 80 millimetres thick is required to repair the sheer strake — the upper hull plating where it joins the deck — of a ULCV but is normally only produced to order. Welding and other equipment to handle heavy-gauge steel may also not be available.

The technical forum further raised the problem of the “bank effect” — the hydrodynamic force that can result in vessels grounding or touching the sides of waterways, potentially causing massive damage.

“We have seen during recent years a number of ULCVs involved in collisions and ground touching while transiting the Suez Canal... there seems to be a need for better training of both navigating officers but also Suez Canal Authority pilots,” the report said.

Oslo-based Cefor links the leading Nordic marine insurers, including Gard, Skuld, the Norwegian Hull Club, the Swedish Club and Codan.