DNV GL awards new fire safety notation to MSC containerships

The new notation is targeted exclusively towards containerships, and designed around a function-based approach for enhanced safety level beyond present SOLAS requirements.

“In shipping, we must always have safety at the forefront of our thinking,” said Knut Orbeck-Nilssen, ceo of DNV GL – Maritime.

“As we move forward in design and in operation, becoming more sustainable and more efficient, safety must still underpin every decision. This new notation enables owners and operators to work with yards and designers to take advantage of new technology, in a way that suits their requirements and mitigates fire risk,” he said.

Applicable to both newbuildings and ships in operation, the notation is set up in a modular way. Owners can decide on the set of qualifiers best suited to their safety objectives and then choose the most efficient measures and technologies to reach these objectives.

Classification society DNV GL said it can support hazard assessment and ensure that targeted functions are fulfilled.

Giuseppe Gargiulo, head of newbuildings at MSC, said: “Containerships have grown much larger in recent years and the volume of cargo carried on deck has expanded exponentially. Container fires, especially with the volume of cargo now being carried, can present a substantial risk to the safety of the crew, cargo and the vessel.

“This is why MSC decided to install new dual-tower fire-fighting system with high-capacity pumps to further enhance the safety of seafarers onboard and protect cargo carried across the whole deck of the ship,” Gargiulo said.

The MSC Gulsun is the world’s first to use on-deck firefighting monitors – fixed water cannons to slow and stop the spread of fire by cooling, which have a reach of more than 100 metres.

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