NME 446 SHIP SURVEY

HULL SURVEY OF BULK CARRIERS

Prof. Heba El-Kilani
 1. STRUCTURAL CONFIGURATION OF BULK CARRIERS

➢ A wide range of bulk commodities are carried in bulk carriers including coal,
grain, ore, cement, alumina, bauxite, and mineral sand plus shipments of
products such as packaged steel and timber.
➢ A general arrangement of a typical bulk carrier shows a clear deck with
machinery aft. Large hatches with steel covers are designed to facilitate
rapid loading and discharge of the cargo. Since the bulk carrier makes many
voyages in ballast a large ballast capacity is provided to give adequate
immersion of the propeller.
➢ Ships of the general bulk carrier form experienced a relatively high casualty
rate during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s (between 1980 and 2000 some
170 bulk carriers were totally lost) giving rise to concern as to their design
and construction.
➢ Based on experience of failures of lesser consequence it was concluded that
the casualties occurred through local structural failure leading to loss of
watertight integrity of the side shell followed by progressive flooding
through damaged bulkheads. The flooding resulting either in excessive hull
bending stresses or excessive trim, and loss of the ship.
➢ In December 2004 the Maritime Safety Committee of IMO adopted a new text
of Chapter XII of SOLAS that included restrictions on sailing with any hold
empty and requirements for double-skin construction as an optional
alternative to single side-skin construction.
➢ Starting from July 2006, the option of double side-skin construction applied
to bulk carriers of 150 meters or more in length, carrying solid bulk cargoes
having a density of 1000 kg/m3 and above.
➢ The common bulk carrier consists of a double bottom, hopper sides and
deck wing tanks used to carry ballast or cargo. Bulk carrier designed to
carry heavy cargo (e.g., ore) may preferably have higher double bottom
to allow a larger KG and result in a less stiff ship. Loading arrangements
in bulk carriers cause high shear forces at the end of the holds and that
requires additional strengthening of the side shell in way of the
bulkheads.
- Alternate hold loading condition – Heavy cargo, such as iron ore , is often carried in
alternate cargo holds on bulk carriers. It is common for large bulk carriers to stow high density
cargo in odd numbered holds with remaining holds empty.
- Block hold loading condition – A block hold loading condition refers to the stowage of
cargo in a block of two or more adjoining cargo holds with the cargo holds adjacent to the block
of loaded cargo holds empty.
- Homogeneous hold loading condition – A homogenous hold loading condition refers to
the carriage of cargo evenly distributed in all holds. This arrangement is usually adopted for the
carriage of light cargoes, such as coal or grain.
➢ There are number of methods of loading:
• Modern cranes can load 1000-2000 T/hour.
• Conveyor systems can load between 100 and 700T/hour with the modern systems capable of
16000T/ hour; the stresses imposed on the hull structure at these rates are certainly very high.

➢ Unloading : Depending on the cargo, cranes are normally used and the rate of discharge is
dependent on the size of the bucket and capacity of the crane averaging around 800T/hour.
Once most of the cargo has been discharged, front loaders and bulldozers are lowered into the
holds to direct the residue into sizeable mounds for collection by the crane buckets; then manual
labor is used to brush out the holds; a dirty and thankless job.
➢ The aforementioned notes has given rise to many guidelines, programmes and systematic
methods to minimize the number of bulk carrier casualties and structural failures.
CRITICAL AREAS IN SINGLE SKIN BULK CARRIER

Cargo Holds
Upper Deck (incl. hatch coamings)
- Hatch corners and hatch end beam connection to topside tank transverse ring web
- Hatch coaming longitudinal end brackets
- Hatch coaming brackets
Cargo Hold (incl. underdeck, bulkheads & stools)
- Connections in way of upper boundaries of corrugated bulkheads
- Connection of side shell frames to hopper and topside tank plating
- Connections in way of lower stool shelf plate
- Welded knuckle connection of hopper tank sloping plating to inner bottom plating
- Radiused knuckle connection of hopper tank sloping plating to inner bottom plating
- Connections of lower stool to inner bottom plate
- Connections of lower stool to inner bottom in way of double bottom girders
Side frame detachment
Tanks
Double Bottom Tank (incl. hopper)
- Floor vertical flat bar stiffener connection to bottom and inner bottom longitudinals
- Welded knuckle connection of hopper tank sloping plating to inner bottom plating
- Radiused knuckle connection of hopper tank sloping plating to inner bottom plating
- Transverse ring web, flat bar stiffener and tripping bracket connection to longitudinal on hopper sloping plate,
bottom shell and side shell and side shell plating
- Upper intermediate brackets below hold side shell frame lower brackets connections of bottom and inner
bottom longitudinals below lower stool
 Topside Tank
- Deck transverses, stiffener connection and
tripping bracket connection to longitudinals
on upper deck
- Transverse ring web, stiffener connection
and tripping bracket connection to
longitudinals on topside tank sloping plate
- Lower intermediate brackets above hold
side shell frame upper bracket
- Hatch corners and hatch end beam
connection to topside tank transverse ring
web
- Connections in way of upper boundaries of
corrugated bulkheads
 Side Tank Structure (Double Skin Bulk Carriers only)
- Connections of side shell longitudinals to horizontal stiffeners and horizontal
tripping brackets on transverse webs
➢ Note that structures adjacent to areas previously part renewed should be specially considered
with respect to reduced scantlings
➢ Consequences of reduced scantlings due to corrosion:
-Buckling of deck
-Buckling of watertight bulkheads
-Buckling of stringers, frames and girders
-Cracking
Special attention to be paid to possible corrosion and mechanical damages of top wing tank drop
lines in holds.
➢ Loss of weathertight integrity continues to be a constant factor leading to cargo damage which

could result in a threat to the safety of the crew, the ship and its cargoes, despite advances in

modern shipbuilding technology, construction, navigation and means of preventing ingress of

water into hold spaces.

The Surveyor can only assess the actual condition of the hatch covers at the time of survey and, in
between two inspections, the proper maintenance of the hatch covers must remain the
responsibility of the owner, master and crew.
Some defects affecting the weathertightness of hatch covers can be attributed to their design. The
crew should be attentive to them and report accordingly for eventual discussion with the designers
and the Classification Societies.
❑Hatch cover design

This may be categorised as being one of three general types:

- mechanically operated steel covers, of folding, sliding, rolling, etc.
types, fitted with gaskets and clamping devices;
- steel pontoon covers with tarpaulins and battening devices or with
gaskets and cleats;
- portable covers with tarpaulins and battening devices (usually
wooden covers).
All types of hatch covers are basically of robust construction; under
normal conditions of care and operation they are fully adequate for
their intended purpose.
Damages to hatch covers
➢ Mechanically operated steel covers are affected by:
- corrosion, which attacks the integrity of the cover itself and which also affects the moving parts
(wheels and rails, hinges between panels, cleats and batten screws, etc.);
- deformation caused by faulty handling, shocks from cargo being handled (especially logs and
heavy loads), wear-and-tear on gaskets, and overloading with deck cargo;
- incorrect maintenance, inadequate maintenance, incorrect repair, lack of adjustment, incorrect
operation;
- incorrect and inadequate maintenance of the power system of the hatch covers i.e. hydraulic
and electric systems and safety devices.
➢ Wooden covers, steel pontoons and tarpaulins are affected:
- mainly by poor handling and bad stowage.
Portable beams also are frequently deformed by rough handling and their locking devices have
always been a source of considerable trouble due to lack of care in handling.
Damages to hatch coamings
Hatch coamings are affected by the following factors and defects:
- corrosion aggravated by the presence of piping systems, utilising
coamings as protection and support, thus preventing normal access to
the plating for painting;
- deformation, both of the plating and of the various supporting
members and brackets, mostly due to cargo handling and aggravated
by general corrosion;
- build up of scale, rust, and cargo debris causing the blockage of
drains, and the incorrect support of the hatch covers;
- fret and wear caused by incorrect adjustment of battening devices
which in turn causes side plate failures, cracking and stay buckling.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7qSY6KPZGtVSkxycURHdkxydmM/edit
Open this link to watch actual defects

➢The watertightness of hatch covers is testing by hose test or ultrasonic

leak detection.
http://aimcontrolgroup.com/en/ship-cargo-hatch-covers-inspection.html