Maersk Line slashes idle time with a new twist


New fully automatic twistlocks enable the latest Maersk Line vessels to offload containers as soon as they are secured in port. They are Maersk Line's latest tool to meet the shipping company's ambitious on-time delivery target of 95%.

Maersk Line has implemented the new, fully automatic twistlocks to its new fleet of container vessels after eight years of development and testing.

"With the fully automatic twistlocks we can start discharging containers as soon as the vessels are secured. We save between 20 and 50 minutes," says Brian Lund Andersen, Port and Terminal Efficiency Manager at Execution Operation, Maersk Line.

The fully automatic twistlocks, like other twistlocks, latch containers together so they remain locked at sea. Contrary to the semi automatic twistlocks, they don't have to be unlocked manually by terminal workers, the so-called stevedores, when arriving in ports.

Instead, with the new twistlocks, the containers are released by the cranes' vertical pull thereby obviating the time-consuming unlocking done by stevedores.

"We improve our terminal performance giving us a time buffer that will have a positive impact not only on our on time delivery, but also on our ability to steam slower resulting in bunker savings," explains Brian Lund Andersen.

Maersk Line has tested the fully automatic twistlocks on the container vessel Maersk Bali for a year with a reduction in time spent in ports. As a result of the positive tests, all new Maersk Line vessels are equipped with fully automatic twistlocks, including the SAMMAX- and WAFMAX-vessels which were launched earlier this year. The 14 S-class vessels bound for maintenance will also be equipped.

Maersk Line is currently investigating the potential for a wider "retrofit" to existing vessels.

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