ClassNK has signed a joint R&D agreement with Nihon Shipyard Co., Ltd. (NSY) and IMC Co., Ltd. (IMC) to ensure the safety and performance evaluation of anti-roll tanks (ART) installed on large container ships, according to ClassNK's release.
An anti-roll tank is a device designed to suppress the ship's roll by moving liquid, such as water, within the tank. Consideration for ART installation on large container ships is advancing due to the expectation of improving container loading efficiency by reducing roll motion and preventing parametric roll, which is regarded as one of the causes of container collapse accidents.
ClassNK has established the requirements in its "Guidelines on Preventive Measures against Parametric Rolling (Edition 1.0)" to grant a notation to the ship equipped with ART. Additionally, through a tank test of ART-related R&D conducted in 2023, ClassNK confirmed their anti-rolling effect against parametric and synchronous roll, and collected data.
For expanding the application of ART to large container ships, NSY, a world leader in the development of large container ships, IMC, which has extensive experience in the design and sales of ART, and ClassNK have signed this joint R&D agreement. Utilizing the obtained data and knowledge, each party will collaborate to ensure the safer application of ART on an actual ship and performance evaluation.