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Risk
Bulletin
Rule Of Thumb Calculations
For Acceptance Of Non-Standardized Loads
Number 37 Report published by
May 2011 Allianz Risk Consulting

Introduction Longitudinal securing, blocking-bracing of cargo, and

Load and stow surveys frequently place the marine securing against tipping are additional considerations
surveyor in the position of accepting or not accepting which may come into play in any cargo-securing
securing of non-standardized cargo. Stowage may be situation aboard ship. All of these variables must be
either directly onboard a ship, on a flat-bed container considered when approving the securing of cargo onto
which will be loaded onto a ship, or onto a flat-bed trailer flatbed trailers or containers.
for over-the-road transportation. In order to expedite
these surveys, the use of “Rules of Thumb” are necessary. Failure to meet the Rule of Thumb calculations (with
the exception of the gross capacity of a flatbed) does
The Rule of Thumb Method is discussed in the not necessarily mean that the cargo is not adequately
International Maritime Organization (IMO) Code of secured. It does mean that either an advanced calculation
Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing (CSS), must be performed or the securing must be improved.
Section 5 of Annex 13.
Flat-Rack Calculations
“The total of the MSL [Maximum Securing Load] Maximum Payload/Load Distribution
values of the securing devices on each side of a unit
of cargo (port as well as starboard) should equal the Flat-racks vary in design strength and a series is often
weight of the unit”* manufactured to a particular level specified by the
* with weight taken in kilonewtons (kN) where 1 kN = 224.81 pounds owner. Maximum permitted Gross Weight (weight of
the flat-rack + cargo), Tare Weight (weight of the empty
Note that MSL is equivalent to Safe Working Load (SWL) flat-rack), and Maximum permitted Payload (weight of
and includes a safety factor applied to Breaking Strength cargo) must all be marked. Check the manufacturing
(BS) (see table below). The MSL of the lashing card on the trailer/container to ensure that the load is
assemblies on each side is calculated using the MSL of less than the maximum stated payload. Even if the trailer
the weakest components. Note that this addresses a is capable of handling the weight of the cargo, it would
method of securing that uses transverse lashings only. be unwise to consider cargo on a flat-rack adequately
secured if the load was distributed in such a small footprint
that structural failure of the flat-rack could result.
Tim Donney Material MSL (SWL)
Global Head Marine
Risk Engineering Shackles, rings, deckeyes, If no specific information is available relating to
50% of breaking strength
Allianz Risk Consultants turnbuckles of mild steel acceptable load distribution, the following formula can
(ARC) be used as an approximation:
Fiber rope 33% of breaking strength
Web lashing 50% of breaking strength L=FxW
+1.646.472.1432 P
Wire rope (single use) 80% of breaking strength
tim.donney@agcs. L is the required length of the cargo
allianz.com
Wire rope (re-usable) 30% of breaking strength F is the length of the flat-rack
www.agcs.allianz.com Steel Band (single use) 70% of breaking strength W is the weight of the cargo
P is the maximum permitted payload
Chains 50% of breaking strength
Timber 0.3kN per cm2 normal
If the calculation determines that the length is too short,
the weight must be distributed more evenly by the use
of lumber dunnage or some other means.
Securing Against Tipping
The Rule of Thumb formula for tipping follows below.
(Note: This is not shown in Annex 13, but has been
projected using an acceleration of 1g as used for
transverse Rule of Thumb)
Transverse Securing/Half-Loops
As noted for cargo which is directly secured (i.e. where
the lashings are attached to fixed points of the cargo
piece) the fixed points on the cargo piece and the
securing points on the flat-rack are assessed as part of
the lashing arrangements and the normal rule applies:
The total of the MSL values of the securing devices
on each side of a unit of cargo (port as well as
starboard) should equal the weight of the unit.

Weight (kN) x a ≤ Weight (kN) x b + (single band MSLs x c)
Where: a = height of Center of Gravity
b = half base (half width of piece at base)
c = lever arm to lashing from Tipping Point
When there are no lashing points, so-called “over the
top” lashing with pre-tension is not authorized for use
under Annex 13. Under these circumstances, a type
of lashing known as half-loop is used. As can be seen
below*, the half-loop lashing is taken all the way around
the cargo piece and both ends are secured at the same
side. A half-loop to one side of the cargo would then
be balanced by a half-loop taken to the other side. This
method generally uses wire rope or steel bands to secure
cases or other block-stowed cargo.

Conservatively applying this formula the following table

can be used for easy reference:

Maximum height for rule of

Width of Base
thumb acceptance

8’ 00” (2.44 m) 14.000’ 14’ 00” (4.27 m)

7’ 06” (2.29 m) 13.375’ ≈ 13’ 04” (4.06 m)

7’ 00” (2.13 m) 12.750’ 12’ 09” (3.89 m)

*Note that the illustration above does not adequately address
6’ 06” (1.98 m) 12.125’ ≈ 12’ 01” (3.68 m) longitudinal blocking/bracing.

6’ 00” (1.83 m) 11.500’ 11’ 06” (3.51 m)

Under most conditions, the MSL for half-loops is 1.41 x
5’ 06” (1.68 m) 10.875’ ≈ 10’ 10” (3.30 m)
the MSL of the band/wire.
5’ 00” (1.52 m) 10.250’ 10’ 03” (3.12 m)
Two conditions must be considered before accepting the
4’ 06” (1.37 m) 9.625’ ≈ 9’ 07” (2.92 m)
above formula:
4’ 00” (1.22 m) 9.000’ 9’ 00” (2.74 m) 1. If the cargo piece is raised up, the lower angle must
be less than 30°. If it is more than 30° the MSL of
3’ 06” (1.07 m) 8.375’ ≈ 8’ 04” (2.54 m)
the band/wire must be used without the multiplier.
3’ 00” (0.91 m) 7.75’ 7’ 09” (2.36 m) If the angle is greater than 60° the half-loop is not
appropriate.
No calculation for tipping is necessary for cargo on 2. If the outside leg goes past the vertical (over-width
flat-racks adequately secured with half-loops or secured piece), this effectively results in the creation of an
from securing points on each side of the load that fall over-the-top lashing and Annex 13 cannot be applied.
within the appropriate height/base width limitation, as
shown above.
Longitudinal Securing/Use of Lumber Useful Data for Calculation of Securing
It is assumed in the CSS Code that there will be a Requirements
horizontal component to each lashing. If transverse
securing is satisfactory using conservative Rule of Thumb Conversion calculations from standard
methods, longitudinal (fore and aft) securing generally weight measurements into kN
will be satisfactory, as well.
kg x 0.0098 = kN
This assumption cannot be made when cargo is secured
lbs x 0.00445 = kN
by half-loops, as there is no horizontal component in this
direction. Therefore, when using half-loops, blocking- tonnes x 9.81 = kN
bracing must be put in place equivalent to 0.5 x cargo
long tons x 9.964 = kN
weight (in kN).
short tons x 8.896 = kN
Calculations can be carried out to determine the
lbs/in² x 0.00069 = kN
theoretical strength of nails based on their number and
cross-sectional area. In practice, however, unknown
variables cannot be properly assessed when looking at Conversion calculations of gravity forces
a piece of lumber nailed to the floor of a flat-rack. These
include such items as size of nails, angle and depth
of penetration and condition of floor at the points of Gravity 1g = 9.81 m/sec²
penetration. In view of this, lumber simply nailed to the 1g = 32.18 ft/sec²
floor should not generally be relied upon.

The lumber should be butted to strong parts of the flat-

rack structure. Free lengths of lumber should not exceed Conversion calculations from metric to US
2 meters. If they do, then additional support/bracing of units
the lumber should be used to reduce the possibility of
flexing and potential failure. Calculation of the MSL to be m x 3.28084 = ft
used with lumber uses the formula:
cm x 0.3937 = in

0.3kN/cm² normal to the grain mm x 39.37 = in

kg x 2.2046 = lbs
Calculation of common sizes of lumber (US)
tonnes (t) x 0.9842 = long ton

kg/m² x 0.2048 = lbs/ft²

Calculation of common sizes of lumber (US)
kg/cm² x 14.2234 = lbs/in²
2” x 6” nominal (1 ¾” x 5 ¾” actual) MSL = 19.5 kN

4” x 4” nominal (3 ¾” x 3 ¾” actual) MSL = 27.2 kN

4” x 6” nominal (3 ¾” x 5 ¾” actual) MSL = 41.7 kN Conversion calculations from US units to

metric
6” x 6” nominal (5 ¾” x 5 ¾” actual) MSL = 64.0 kN
ft x 0.3048 = m

in x 2.54 = cm

in x 25.4 = mm

lbs x 0.4536 = kg

long ton x 1.016 = tonnes (t)

lbs/ft² x 4.8824 = kg/m²

lbs/in² x 0.07031 = kg/cm²

Useful Data for Calculation of Securing Requirements

Catalogue of Cargo Lashings

(Hypothetical values - not for actual use) Catalogue of Cargo Lashings

ID Description Size BS SWL Units Material MSL (SWL)

1 Wire Rope 6 x 16 3/8” --- 1.3 LT Shackles, rings, deckeyes,
50% of breaking strength
2 Wire Rope 6 x 12 5/8” 7.74 --- t turnbuckles of mild steel
3 Wire Rope 6 x 19 5/8” 11.40 --- t Fiber rope 33% of breaking strength
4 Wire Rope 6 x 12 3/4” 12.10 --- t Web lashing 50% of breaking strength
5 Wire Rope 6 x 19 3/4” 17.80 --- t
Wire rope (single use) 80% of breaking strength
6 Wire Rope 6 x 24 7/8” 19.70 --- t
Wire rope (re-usable) 30% of breaking strength
7 Chain alloy steel 3/8” 9.00 --- t
Steel Band (single use) 70% of breaking strength
8 Chain alloy steel 1/2” 20.00 --- t
Chains 50% of breaking strength
9 Chain alloy steel 5/8” 32.00 --- t
Timber 0.3 kN per cm2 normal
10 Turnbuckle 3/8” 3.00 --- LT
11 Turnbuckle 1 1/2” 5.20 --- LT
12 Turnbuckle 5/8” 8.00 --- LT Securing Materials
13 Turnbuckle 3/4” 12.50 --- LT BS MSL CS
Items
14 Turnbuckle 7/8” 17.50 --- LT kN kN kN
Cargo Lashing Point - 23
15 Webbing Green 3.00 --- t
16 Webbing Blue 4.00 --- t Shackles 1/2” 29.9 15

17 Webbing Orange 6.00 --- t Chain 3/8” 88.3 44 10

18 Steel Strap 1-1 1/4” 7500 --- lbs Turnbuckle 1.5cm 68.7 34

19 Steel Strap 2” 11000 --- lbs Deck Fitting - 40

20 Shackle 1 1/2” --- 1.27 LT For EACH lashing assembly: CS = Least MSL/1.5
21 Shackle 5/8” --- 1.96 LT
22 Shackle 3/4” --- 2.85 LT
Conclusion
23 Shackle 7/8” --- 3.84 LT It is vitally important that non-standardized cargo loads be
adequately secured, according to standards laid out in the IMO CSS
24 PIH Chain Ass’y 11mm 14.2 --- t
Annex 13 guidelines. The preceding calculations can greatly simplify
25 PIH Chain Ass’y 13mm 18.5 --- t what can be an enormously imposing-looking task.

For more details or clarification about the calculations covered in this

bulletin, please call an ARC Marine risk consultant.

Copyright © 2011 Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty AG. All rights reserved.
ARC-RB-37-en
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