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Heavy lift industry unveils new stability guidance for safer operations

Heavy Lift Exchange Forum, initiated by DNV, releases the “Guidance on Stability of Lifts”

The Heavy Lift Exchange Forum, initiated by DNV, has released the “Guidance on Stability of Lifts”, a comprehensive operational guideline aimed at enhancing the safety and stability of heavy lift operations. This collaborative achievement marks a milestone in the heavy lift sector by addressing a crucial gap: providing specific guidance for complex cargo shapes where established procedures were previously unclear or absent. The guideline is the result of years of work by industry leaders, including BBC Chartering, BigLift Shipping, DNV, Heerema Marine Contractors, Jumbo, SAL Engineering and United Heavy Lift.

A collaborative approach to heavy lifting safety

The guidance brings together decades of experience and expertise from leading heavy lift shipping companies, resulting in a structured approach for assessing lifting stability. With a focus on clear, step-by-step procedures, the guideline ensures a common understanding among engineers and operators, enhancing predictability and safety across various heavy lift scenarios.

Key features and benefits

The “Guidance on Stability of Lifts” offers a systematic, flowchart-based approach to planning and evaluating the stability of rigging arrangements. It reflects real-world workflows used by participating companies and provides detailed methods to:

Prepare and refine draft rigging plans.
Assess friction-dependent rigging points.
Evaluate the center of gravity (CoG) of lifting setups.
Document and implement operational limits.
Finalize a stable rigging plan that complies with established safety criteria.

“The paper fills a significant gap in existing heavy lift guidance by providing methods and data for achieving a ‘stable lift’ – one that remains balanced under predefined disturbing factors,” said Karsten Behrens, Managing Director of SAL Engineering GmbH. This stability is crucial for reducing risks to life, property, and the environment during hazardous heavy lift operations.

Comprehensive stability assessment methods

To further enhance its practical utility, the guidance compares and applies multiple stability assessment methods, including:

Virtual CoG concept
Kaps method, a well-known approach in maritime operations
Nikitin method for two-chain suspensions
Numerical computer simulations, offering both standard and extended analyses

Each method is explored in terms of complexity, accuracy, and applicability, helping users make informed decisions tailored to specific lifting operations. The guideline also includes comprehensive mathematical formulas and considerations for factors like wind force, crane movement, CoG shifts, and rigging length tolerances.

Ensuring safety through collaboration

The “Guidance on Stability of Lifts” stands as a testament to the power of industry collaboration and shared expertise. “By working together, we have created a valuable tool that empowers engineers and technical operators in heavy lifting to make better-informed decisions, increasing safety and reducing risks during challenging operations,” noted Sebastian Becker, Team Lead CAD Design at SAL Engineering GmbH.