The shipping industry is increasingly focusing on hull integrity - both for reasons of safety and of cost-efficiency. Continous control of a ship's hull condition creates business advantages to ship operators and owners, providing an important selling point in relation to charterers.

Lower cost, higher safety
Maintenance costs can be reduced significantly by efficient monitoring of hull condition, lowering the risk of accidents and the need for unplanned maintenance of coating, corrosion, cracks, buckling and indents, which could result in costly offhire.

Compliance with current regulations is only the first step, as ship operators with a system for proactive maintenance can comply with self-imposed standards and stay one step ahead of future requirements. An efficient system that optimises inspection, repair planning and hull maintenance standards is needed to contribute to a positive bottom line in the short and long term.

Owners in control
Owners can suffer from lack of sufficiently detailed information on the status of their fleet, and many have expressed a need for more expertise in the area of hull structural behaviour within their organisations. The quality of any inspection scheme is highly dependent on the qualifications of the inspectors, which often means the crew.

Owners can demonstrate control by showing charterers detailed and up-todate documentation of hull condition. For sale and purchase purposes, the condition of the hull structure can substantiate the second-hand value with a high degree of certainty.

Focus on environmental issues
The market calls for a more proactive and transparent approach to handling environmental issues. Shipping is exposed to a new reality – where the environmental focus has increased dramatically over the past few years. Authorities and regulators have predicted new regulations, forcing the industry to act now.

A catastrophic event is not the only risk for a fleet that relies on reactive and inefficient hull maintenance. As costly as such an event would be, putting lives and assets at risk, there are numerous other risks of gradual deterioration of hull integrity. Leaking of oil into the ballast water is a significant issue for tankers in need of maintenance.

The shipping industry will have to pay much more attention to new demands for more environmentally friendly operations in the future than it does today, and innovative solutions are required.

A system for all ship types
Nauticus Hull Integrity allows ship operators to efficiently and effectively manage their hull integrity. DNV has signed contracts for Nauticus Hull Integrity and Hull Integrity Management with several leading operators within the three major ship segments – tank, bulk and container carriers, each with different needs. All benefit from access to visually structured and up-to-date hull condition status, supplemented by a selection of management reports. Total fleet overview provides information transparency to management.

Benefits
With Nauticus Hull Integrity you can:

• Keep skilled inspectors and improve the efficiency of the inspections and documentation.
• Be better prepared for docking – and spend less time in dock.
• Be in control and let the charterers know it!
• Be able to document the fleet’s hull condition in a consistent way for management and charterers.
• Make current and concise inspection data available as handover information during crew change.
• Improve knowledge transfer to new employees and retain valuable employees by investing in knowledge and modern tools.
• Identify defects early – avoiding costly off-hire.
• Organise management functions.

DNV’s Hull Integrity Management comprises four service elements:

• Knowledge – Hull Competence courses
• Systematics – Ship-specific Hull Inspection Manuals
• Software tools – Nauticus Hull Integrity
• Support – Hull Advisory Services.