Tag: IACS

IMO issues new circulars The IMO has issued new Circulars and MEPC.1/Circ. 765 gives information on new retrofitting kits for MAN B&W S70MC and S50MC type engines.In accordance with the provisions of regulation 13 of MARPOL Annex VI, engines of more than 5 MW and a displacement per cylinder of 90 litres or above, installed onboard ships built between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 1999, should be fitted with methods for NOx emissions reduction (kits) when such kits are available and approved by an Administration.Ships with engines for which the kits are approved are required to be fitted with them at the first renewal survey of the IAPP Certificate which is scheduled 12 months from the date on which the Administration gives notice of the certification of the approved kit.According to MEPC.1/Circ. 764 and 765, the Danish Administration reported on the certification of the approved method for MAN B&W S70MC and SM50MC type engines on 11 August 2011. Therefore, installation of the kits for such engines will be mandatory no later than the first renewal survey for the IAPP Certificate which occurs on or after 12 August 2012, subject to commercial availability.IACS has informed the IMO that data provided ...

The consortium is an initiative intended to increase ship safety UK-based engineering design and information management solution company Aveva says that it has recently joined the OpenHCM (hull conditioning monitoring) Consortium.The consortium, an initiative intended to increase ship safety though transparent electronic processing of assessment data for the in-service operation of ships and offshore platforms, was formed to carry on the work started under the EC's CAS projects to develop a neutral exchange standard.This is focused on improving the efficiency of the thickness measurement process on board ships already in service through a fully electronic process. The main users are seen as shipyards, owners, classification societies and thickness measurement companies to exchange files and visualise as 3D models.The consortium's initial members include: IACS classification societies Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, Dutch testing and inspection specialist Materiaal Metingen Europe and French robotics solutions provider Cybernétix. As a member of the consortium Aveva believes that it is in the interest of the maritime industry for OpenHCM to be widely used, in order to provide reliable and efficient, communication across all in-service operational processes. Following completion of practical implementations, the OpenHCM proposal will be submitted to IACS ...

IACS chairman & ClassNK head Noboru Ueda During his recent India visit, Noboru Ueda , chairman of International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) and head of ClassNK, talks to V Ayyappan on world shipping scenario. Excerpts from the interview.How healthy is global shipbuilding industry today?Much like the shipping industry, the shipbuilding industry is very cyclical, and in my more than 40 years in the maritime industry I have seen several market downturns like this one.With that said, while the current downturn presents a challenge for the industry, it does not compare to previous downturns such as occurred in the late 1970s and 1980s. While these are still not the best of times for shipbuilders, I am very optimistic about the future of the shipbuilding industry. What made the owners overbook which led to the present crisis? How long will the over capacity situation last?While it may be true that an oversupply of new vessels is one of the reasons behind the current slump in charter rates, I think we should not overlook the lingering effects of the economic crisis. The health of the shipping industry depends on the growth of world trade, and the slowed growth of the world's leading ...

Laying out 3 key strategic objectives for the period between 2011 to 2013 Chairman & President Noboru Ueda revealed that ClassNK, already the worlds largest on a gross ton basis, aimed to have more than 200 million gross tons on its register by the end of 2013 as part of the Societys new Global Approach 200 mid-term plan, unveiled in Tokyo.The plan was officially revealed to the press following its approval by the ClassNK Administrative Council, which met for the first time since the Society completed its transition to a new legal structure in April of this year.The Global Approach 200 plan, the first such mid-term plan to be released by ClassNK, lays out 3 key strategic objectives for the society for the period between 2011 to 2013, including: creating a stable foundation resistant to changes in the market environment, maintaining ClassNKs position as the worlds leading classification society and expanding upon its share of the classification market, and taking more a proactive approach to new opportunities. Based on these strategic objectives, Mr. Ueda laid out 5 goals for the class society to achieve by 2013, including: establishing a stable financial foundation for future growth, reaching more than 200 million ...

In the footsteps of the Indian Register of Shipping Earlier this month, the Croatian Register became the 12th member of IACS.IACS and ClassNK Chairman Noboru Ueda explained that the register followed in the footsteps of the Indian Register of Shipping, which became a member in June of last year.Ueda also said that the Croatian Register was the first to step up from a completely non-IACS society to full membership.Explaining the recent work of IACS at Nor-Shipping, he said that the environment expert group had been developing a new minimum speed requirement for EEDI, which was expected to be debated at MEPC 62 this July.A joint industry working group was also established and had met twice this year. In March it agreed to develop a joint industry set of guidelines to ensure that EEDI can be implemented more effectively and universally.A report on the guidelines was submitted by BIMCO, CESA, IACS, ICS, Intercargo, Intertanko and OCIMF, to the IMO this month.The IACS council has also reaffirmed its commitment to complete the harmonised common structural rules (CSR) by detailing its work schedule to comply with the IMO's schedule for goal-based standards.Source: Tanker Operator

Regulations for newbuildings IMO has recently adopted amendments to SOLAS defining a Goal Based Standard (GBS) approach in how the IMO regulations for newbuildings should be developed and verified.This initial GBS used a deterministic approach which would accommodate the verification of conformity of the current prescriptive IACS Common Structural Rules for Oil Tankers and Bulk Carriers.The terminology needs to be clearly understood: the IMO GBS rules are a set of "rules for rules", which means the GBS rules are setting the standards which need to be met by the criteria contained in the rules developed by class or other industry bodies. It should also be noted that the verification of the class rules means an audit for "conformity" (instead of "compliance") with the standards.At its 89th session in London 11-20 May, the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 89) has re-generated the process of developing GBS rules for newbuildings based on a Safety Level Approach (SLA). In other words, the GBS SLA set of standards will not be defined in a prescriptive manner, but a set of safety levels will be defined which will be developed by using formal safety assessment (FSA) approaches. So, in the main, the GBS SLA will ...

IACS delight at the adoption of Common Structural Rules by IMO For Derek Hodgson, permanent secretary of the International Association of Classification Societies, the highlight of 2010 for class has undoubtedly revolved around the harmonisation of the Common Structural Rules for tankers and bulkers, and reaching agreement with the International Maritime Organization regarding their adoption into goal-based standards. As a result, from June 1, 2016, new regulations to be adopted into Solas will require new bulkers and tankers of 150 m long and above to be designed and built to classification rules which have been verified by the IMO as meeting the new goal-based ship construction standards. "That is a fairly tight programme but we were very pleased that the IMO Maritime Safety Committee agreed the implementation schedule," says Mr Hodgson.Source: IACS

The purpose of IACS guidance is to to assist ship operators in meeting the requirements of the ISM Code with respect to PSC, certification, training, SMS failures, shipboard maintence and others.