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Designing a Safety Layer You Can Retrofit Without Drydock
By Vignesh D. · February 2, 2026 · 4 min read
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.
Field installation on a 6,500-CEU PCTC takes 3 working days alongside, with the vessel still loading.
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).
- [VERIFY: $80–150k/day PCTC drydock-day cost — range from broker market reports; vessel-class- and yard-dependent.]
- [VERIFY: "3 working days alongside" installation duration — internal engineering target, not yet field-validated on a third-party vessel.]