“Next to the grounding of and subsequent pollution from the tanker Exxon Valdez back in the 1980s, the Napoli grounding and ensuing cleanup have been the world’s most expensive ever".
In addition to offloading a full cargo of containers partly submerged under water, the ship had to be cut in half off the south coast of England in order to be floated independently,” says DNV’s Geir Dugstad.
He has been instrumental in producing DNV’s Napoli report (described in detail in Container Ship Update number 1, 2008). “It was a team effort where we gathered some of our brightest and most experienced persons to examine the event to the tune of approximately USD 2 million. The sinking of the DNV-classed Napoli attracted top management attention from day one,” says Dugstad, who is Head of Department, Class Services and Newbuildings, at DNV’s MTP (Maritime Technology & Production Centre).
Not a generic problem
“The problem experienced in connection with the Napoli is not a generic issue for all container vessels – on the contrary only a handful of ships have a design which could potentially lead to similar problems. We have worked closely with the UK’s MAIB (Maritime Accident Investigation Branch) to find the root cause of this accident and to provide the industry with a procedure to screen existing vessels. We are now in the process of evaluating the MAIB recommendation as to the longitudinal strength of future designs. This work has not been concluded yet,” says Dugstad.
“We have re-calculated all DNV-classed vessels using a simplified procedure, and this DNV procedure has become the class industry standard when reviewing ship hulls and the potential problems that may arise under given conditions. We have used a non-linear calculation method (please see separate article for methodology) to generate the event.”
Support from a strong technology base
MTP is a well known abbreviation at DNV as this is the “heart and soul” of DNV Maritime. The some 575 staff at are responsible for DNV Maritime’s technology base, for rule developments and for working closely with yards and owners to provide the best service based on the prevailing state-of-the-art technology. The educational level of MTP employees is high, with 22 holding a PhD, 339 a Master’s degree, 120 a Bachelor’s degree and 87 a lower degree from a college. Many have studied naval architecture, but some have also studied mechanical engineering, computer sciences and other disciplines. This means that, when needed, the company has in-house competence at its disposal. In addition, DNV has a separate R&D business entity as well as a strong software house – DNV Software. The DNV ship modelling centre at Sopot in Poland has also provided valuable input for modelling ships electronically. “All in all, a DNV team effort,” underlines Dugstad.