PENKO products help companies meet new IMO regulations
As a new regulation passed by the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO) nears implementation, PENKO Engineering B.V. is uniquely
positioned to help companies ensure compliance.
In 2014, the 169 member
countries of the London-based IMO passed a new regulation to strengthen its
existing Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention. The new law requires all
shipping containers to be accurately weighed, with the weight verifiable before
they are allowed to be loaded onto vessels. The regulation will go into effect
worldwide on July 1st, 2016.
The new regulation was put in place to help
guarantee the safety of ship and harbour crews. It is also intended to prevent
accidents that can occur when ship contents fall overboard because a stack of
containers' centre of gravity is positioned too high or when a ship rocks,
causing LASH (lighter aboard ship) vessels to be overloaded and break. Container
stacks sometimes collapse because goods are incorrectly piled, and when a boat
is not evenly balanced, it can affect a ship's trajectory. Proper weighing and
declaration can help avoid these situations. PENKO equipment can take the
guesswork out of weighing shipping loads, making the process of getting accurate
results very easy. The products can also help ensure that loads won't be
rejected by the ship owner for not being properly weighed and verified.
PENKO weighing equipment can be located in an overhead crane, in a
weighbridge, or surface mounted using different configurations, like a beam
frame. They can work with shipping containers of many sizes, from 10 feet to a
maximum of 45 feet in length, and weighing up to 35,000 kilograms. Modern
weighing systems rely on sensors that "translate" force into an electrical
signal, and additional electronics which visualise the mass and prepare
information for further processing. PENKO offers high quality sensors, including
load cells -- models 220, 460 or 740 -- along with loading assemblies ideal for
weighing shipping containers. The sensor's signals are processed by indicators
-- such as SGM800, 1020 or FLEX-2100 -- which give a precise readout for the
most accurate results. And PENKO's FLEX four-channel controller can even show a
container's centre of gravity, so a container can be balanced evenly on a
ship.
"Our office is located near the Port of Rotterdam - Europe's
largest shipping port," explains PENKO Technical and Sales Manager Vincent van
der Wel. "We have decades of experience working with shipping cargo and maritime
laws, giving our clients peace of mind that their cargo will be safely and
lawfully managed."
To learn about these products and all of PENKO's
offerings, visit www.penko.com.