Steel Load Planner
Award‑winning, automated steel coil load planning
Streamline steel coil load planning with the latest version of DNV’s Steel Load Planner, a self-service app that automatically generates fully optimized loading plans and provides structural assessment in less than five minutes. It helps optimize vessel capacity, support compliant operations, and reduce operational risk.
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Steel Load Planner
Steel coil loading in maritime transport
Loading steel coils for ocean transport can be challenging due to the wide range of coil sizes, weights, and stowage considerations. Assessing whether a vessel is suitable for a specific shipment requires accurate, cargo-specific calculations to ensure structural compliance and enhance safety, particularly for vessels operating with mixed cargo profiles.
A self-service application for steel coil load planning
DNV’s Steel Load Planner has been developed to make steel coil loading on dry bulk carriers, multi‑purpose, and general cargo vessels significantly faster and easier to manage.
The original application was launched in 2023 and won the IT Solutions Award at the International Bulk Journal Awards for its innovative approach to steel coil load planning. The latest version builds on experience gained from more than two years of operational use across over 100 vessels.
Key features of the Steel Load Planner
Automated, tailor-made loading plans
- Automatically generate, update and evaluate steel coil loading plans through a self‑service workflow, ensuring that the capacity of the tank top and hopper structures is not exceeded
- Handle mixed coil stowage and non‑standard tier arrangements with minimal manual input
- Propose the minimum required amount of dunnage for each row of coils
Optimized use of cargo hold capacity
- Enable efficient use of the whole cargo hold by evaluating the sloped hopper structures, and utilizing the available capacity above the lowest tier
- Optimize coil placement by identifying strengthened areas of the tank top that can carry a larger number of coils
Voyage and condition-based optimization
- Apply route-specific voyage planning by reducing dynamic accelerations for short voyages in mild sea conditions
- Consider corrosion margins for vessels with documented coating condition and limited corrosion levels, enabling higher cargo intake without exceeding the structural capacity
- Improve deadweight utilization when transporting steel coils, enabling vessels to reach close to full capacity
One-page planning dashboard
- Access a consolidated overview of the steel coil loading plan, with on‑screen views and print-ready reports designed for practical use
- Visualize coil distribution across the cargo hold, with detailed row‑by‑row placement
- Display key data from the loading plan, including coil quantities, total masses, and centres of gravity, to support input to the onboard loading computer
FAQs
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The Steel Load Planner is a self‑service application for preparing and evaluating steel coil loading plans. It helps optimize vessel capacity and provides structural assessment to support compliant planning while reducing operational risk for vessel, cargo, and crew.
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The Steel Load Planner is designed for professionals responsible for the stowage and loading of steel coils on dry bulk carriers, multi-purpose, and general cargo vessels.
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The application uses a vessel-specific structural model to assess load-bearing capacity for any given shipment of coils, based on the specified coil dimensions.
DNV’s Steel Load Planner supports safer and efficient steel coil transport through a self-service digital tool developed from extensive operational experience. This award-winning application is available via the Veracity marketplace – purchase it today or request your free trial.
* The Steel Load Planner supports local strength assessment and does not replace onboard systems or operational procedures such as lashing and cargo handling.
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