SimpleStow
Port Rotation
One of the fundamental concepts in SimpleStow is voyage scenario or port rotation. With SimpleStow you plan not only one loading condition in a selected port, but stowage scenario for the entire voyage.
The program uses list of ports that the ship will call during the voyage, ports characteristics, and the order of port rotation to perform various tasks:
- Every port has designated color that the program uses to render containers in the bay plan. You can select what color-coding scheme – by POL or POD – to apply in the bay plan.
- The program allows you to instantly switch stowage condition from port to port simply clicking on a port in the Port Rotation bar. SimpleStow immediately updates the bay plan showing only the containers that are supposed to be on board in the selected port.
- Changing position of a container in one port automatically updates the bay plan for all the affected ports.
- SimpleStow allows you to simulate shifting or re-stowage of containers in intermediate ports. Thus a container may have different stowage positions in different ports during the voyage.
- SimpleStow uses the order of ports during the voyage to detect possible overstowage due to port rotation. Positions of hatch covers and container stacks are taken in to consideration.
- You can plan for different ports in a random order. SimpleStow automatically checks for stowage conflicts not only in the current port, but in all ports through the entire voyage and warns you about possible problem that may occur in earlier or later ports.
Port rotation in SimpleStow can be entered manually or imported from a structured text file. When importing BAPLIE messages the program extracts the ports information from the file and provides a convenient dialog where you can line up ports in proper order.
At any time when planning the ship you can add, delete ports in the current voyage or change their rotation. SimpleStow automatically updates the bay plan and checks for possible conflicts that may be caused by altering port rotation.