A Safety Layer You Can Retrofit Afloat
A cargo-hold sensor grid only matters if it can be installed without taking the ship out of service for weeks. Here is how we approach the constraint.
When we talk to operators, the first concern is rarely sensor accuracy. It is downtime. A typical drydock for a PCTC costs the operator between $80–150k per day in lost charter — before the actual yard work. Any retrofit that requires drydock has to clear an enormous ROI bar.
The constraint shaped the architecture
RoRoSAFE deploys via low-profile sensor strips that mount to existing structural members using marine-grade adhesive backing — no hot work, no penetrations, no class-society approvals beyond the standard cargo monitoring path.
How RoRoSAFE helps
This is the constraint RoRoSAFE was designed around. A single deck installs alongside the berth in about three working days, with no drilling, no hull changes and no modification to the vehicles. The ship stays in service. A pilot covers one nominated deck with six months of bridge and shore dashboard access, and extends to the full vessel without architectural changes.
Pilot: one deck · installed alongside the berth · no drydock · 6 months of dashboard access
Sources
- Drewry Shipping Consultants — "PCTC Operations and Charter Rates" market reports (2024–2025).
- Clarksons Research — vessel-day off-hire cost benchmarks for car carriers.
- IACS — Recommendation 142, "Repair and Conversion of Ships in Service" (procedural reference for retrofit work).
Questions, answered
Why does retrofit have to avoid drydock?+
Operators' first concern is rarely sensor accuracy — it is downtime. A PCTC drydock costs an estimated $80–150k per day in lost charter before any yard work, so any retrofit requiring drydock has to clear an enormous ROI bar. The drydock constraint shaped the whole architecture.
How is RoRoSAFE installed without hot work or hull penetrations?+
It deploys via low-profile sensor strips that mount to existing structural members using marine-grade adhesive backing — no hot work, no penetrations, and no class-society approvals beyond the standard cargo-monitoring path.
How long does installation take?+
The internal engineering target is field installation on a 6,500-CEU PCTC in about 3 working days alongside, with the vessel still loading — so the retrofit does not take the ship out of revenue service.
Continue the thread
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How Detection Adapts Across Ship Types
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