DNV GL Okays HHI’s Boxship Capacity Stretching Concept
Tor E. Svensen, CEO of DNV GL – Maritime, presents Yoon Moon-kyoon, Senior Executive Vice President & COO of HHI’s Shipbuilding Division, with the AiP certificate for the SkyBench concept at the Nor-Shipping 2015.Classification society DNV GL has presented Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) with an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the shipbuilder’s SkyBench concept designed to increase the cargo capacity of large container vessels.
The bridge and upper three decks of a ”twin island” design container would be constructed as a separate sliding block, mounted on rails and able to move over the length of two 40ft container bays.
In combination with a resizing and relocation of fuel tanks and the utilization of the void spaces beneath the accommodation block in a traditional design, this allows the addition of two extra 20ft container bays.
The resulting cargo increase amounts to 270 TEU on a 17-row wide 10,000 TEU ship, 450 TEU on a 23-row wide 19,000 TEU ship and 350 TEU on a 20-row wide 14,000 TEU vessel.
”We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to DNV GL for the approval of our SkyBench concept design,” said Yoon Moon-kyoon, Senior Executive Vice President & COO of HHI’s Shipbuilding Division.
”As we have been doing over the past four decades, we will continue to provide competitive ships differentiated from others in terms of quality, reliability and technological capabilities to our valued clients. I believe that SkyBench, like many other previous technological breakthroughs we have shown to the world, will surely bring benefits to our customers.”
The SkyBench mechanism takes ten minutes to operate, using four electric drive train units to move the block backwards from its normal position.
The two 40ft side casings on which the accommodation block rests provide structural strength and hold lifeboats, provision cranes and utility rooms. In an emergency, the sliding block is detachable and is designed to float independently of the vessel.
”This was an extremely interesting and exciting project and we are very pleased that HHI selected us to work with them to realize this concept,” said Tor E. Svensen, CEO of DNV GL – Maritime.
”The SkyBench shows how the industry’s increased focus on efficiency and maximizing transport capacity has really sparked innovation in design and operation. Additionally, the potential of this design to offset reduced cargo capacity when choosing LNG as ship fuel means that HHI can offer a design tailored to meet stricter sulphur emission limits in the future.”
