This can be avoided by combining traditional athwartships stowage with fore and aft stowage. Complete fore and aft stowage is acceptable in some cases, provided the stow is built out over the hopper tanks. It is particularly important with steel slabs always to remember one of the basic principles of good stowage: to interlock the individual blocks, like building a brick wall. Non-interlocking stacks should be avoided if at all possible. All gaps in the uppermost horizontal tier should be secured with suitable sized timber.