Container overboard

With a novel combination of a tracking unit and a communication platform, Jade University aims to make it easier to locate containers lost at sea in future.

Credits: Jade Hochschule (2x), Rainer Schulz und Johan Krol

Review: In January 2019, while in heavy seas in the German Bight, the container ship “MSC Zoe” lost 342 containers overboard. These included boxes containing refrigerators, televisions and clothing. Some were hazardous goods containers with lithium batteries, chemicals and plastic granulate. The crew of the 395-metre-long vessel only noticed the loss several hours after the incident. Subsequently, large amounts of flotsam from the accident were washed up on the West and East Frisian beaches for months. Indeed, ten per cent of the containers lost from the “MSC Zoe” are probably still somewhere on the seabed today.

In order to make it easier to locate freight containers that have gone overboard in the future and to prevent scenarios like that of the “MSC Zoe”, Jade University and its partners (see info box) are currently developing an innovative tracking unit and a communication platform as part of the three-year “ConTAD – Smart Container Tracking and Accident Detection” research project. “Against the backdrop of increasing global trade and a further increase in shipping traffic, we can use our new system to help reduce the time it takes to detect containers that have gone overboard, increase environmental protection and improve the resilience of supply chains and the safety of shipping,” explained project manager Professor Christian Denker at the launch of “ConTAD” last November.

The device is a tracking unit, roughly the size of a smartphone, attached to the container door. It consists of an antenna, a warning light, a solar cell and a floatation device. “We’re currently working with our partner Eurogate to test exactly how big the tracking unit will be and what type of line connection it’ll have with the box,” explained Moritz Oberjatzas, who is supervising the project as a research assistant. The tracking unit works on the same principle as a smartwatch. This means that vibration and acceleration sensors will be used to recognise when a container has gone overboard. In addition, satellite navigation will be used to send the necessary information to the damaged vessel, to ships in the vicinity, to the cargo owner and to the damage experts responsible – with the corresponding coordinates. “In the event of an accident, the aim is for the batteries in the tracking unit to have a service life of two years, thanks to the use of solar cells, and to send a signal from the water surface for at least four days,” he continued.

The island of Ameland (right) two days after the “MSC Zoe” incident. The Wadden Sea Protection Centre regularly documented which objects were washed up on the beaches. The blank of an LED lamp (left), also believed to have come from the “MSC Zoe”, was found off Eiderstedt some two years after the incident.

This is the device’s special feature – if the container in question sinks, its flotation device continues to float on the surface. In the event that several containers are lost overboard at the same time, their systems form an ad hoc network, which enables the drifting boxes to be located using the existing communication system, saving data and energy. At the same time, the safety signal from the tracking unit is fed into the electronic nautical charts and warns ships travelling nearby that there are damaged containers in the vicinity. This helps to avoid a possible collision. Moreover, the ship that has lost the cargo can immediately initiate countermeasures to prevent the loss of further containers – by reducing speed or changing course, for example. “The sooner that happens, the better,” added Oberjatzas. “Depending on the wind and current, containers lost at sea can move up to 100 kilometres per day.”

“As the system utilises existing communication systems already available to the shipping industry, ‘ConTAD’ requires no additional infrastructure to be implemented on board ships. This means the hurdles for a market launch are low,” said Denker optimistically. Tests on the system’s efficiency and suitability for everyday use will continue until October 2026. (bre)

Satellite navigation is used to send the necessary information and the corresponding coordinates to the vessel in distress and others involved.

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The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action’s Maritime Funding Programme is funding “ConTAD” to the tune of 1.4 million euros, of which roughly 470,000 euros is allocated to Jade University. Cooperation partners are Socratec Telematic and Brehmer. Associated partners include Hapag-Lloyd, Eurogate Container Terminal Bremerhaven, Neue Schleppdampfschiffsreederei Louis Meyer, m2m Germany and the Maritime Cluster Northern Germany.

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Container overboard

With a novel combination of a tracking unit and a communication platform, Jade University aims to make it easier to locate containers lost at sea in future.

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