Peter Peltenburg, CEO of Netherlands-based Cargo Care Solutions, has said that the weight of the extra containers and cargo was placing massive amounts of stress on the hatch covers and lashing gear of container ships
Peltenburg said that, with the current strong market conditions, shipowners could not afford to incur any downtime of their vessels due to a lack of maintenance. “These vessels are currently running at maximum capacity and that will take its toll. A vessel that has not been trading at full capacity going into drydock every five years will have these bits of equipment repaired as a matter of anticipated wear and tear.
There had been an increase in the number of requests for servicing of the hatch covers and lashing gear, whereas before, shipowners would focus less on the condition of the hatch covers or lashing gear or undertake essential repairs themselves, he said.