MSC Napoli report

[Kelvin Davies]

The UK's MAIB has now published a report on the circumstances surrounding the break up of the MSC Napoli.
There are many factors that led to the failure of the hull, from ballast arrangements in harbour to welding failures and inaccurate weight measurements when it comes to containerised cargo.
The most interesting part is that they have identified 12 other container ships that have the same issues structurally as the MSC Napoli and 8 more undergoing closer examination.
You can find the report via the BBC news site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7359350.stm
click on the PDF link on this page

[spilepin]

There are other containerships out there suffering cracks and not all are as big as the Napoli.
The MAIB report makes no mention of having studied the history of loading sequences. Consider the shearing force stresses on the largest ships if entire Bays are totally discharged and adjacent Bays are fully loaded. Coupled with under declared container weights and discontinuity of longitudinal strength, this could have had a serious effect over time