Tag: IACS

IACS Council met this week in London under the chairmanship of Tom Boardley of Lloyds Register IACS Council met this week in London under the chairmanship of Tom Boardley of Lloyds Register. He reported "we had a very productive meeting during which, among many other matters, we agreed to extend the Industry review period of the Harmonised Common Structural Rules at a meeting with industry colleagues from Shipowner Associations, Shipbuilders and Insurers." IACS also agreed to strengthen the implementation of EEDI by using the industry developed guidelines as a Procedural Requirement for IACS Members. IACS chairs the joint industry working group which developed the ground breaking EEDI guidelines that have been submitted to the IMO.By using these guidelines as Procedural Requirements mandatory on Members whose societies classify over 90% of the world fleet, IACS is setting down a benchmark for efficient and environmentally safe shipping unsurpassed by any other non-governmental safety organisation.In furtherance of this initiative IACS Council members also agreed to work with Industry to develop an energy efficiency measure for existing ships. Presently, there is no credible industry standard for existing ships so the development of an IACS standard will have a massive impact on the ability of ...

Classification Societies Establish EU Presence

ICS, IACS, BIMCO, Intercargo, Intertanko, OCIMF, CESS Representatives of the leading worldwide Associations of Shipbuilders, Classification Societies and Shipowners met in Busan, Korea for their annual Tripartite meeting hosted by the Korean Register of Shipping and KOSHIPA, the national shipbuilders association.The meeting was united in expressing its serious concern with the obstacles that all three parties face as the Ballast Water Management Convention moves closer to ratification, eight years after its text was adopted. It was always going to be challenging to fit ballast water treatment equipment to all of the world's 70,000 ships.New technologies needed to be explored and developed to treat the volume of water required by ocean going ships as ballast. However the slow pace of ratification by IMO member States has negated the carefully staged implementation programme that was a feature of the original Convention. Now that the fixed timeline for implementation has passed without entry into force it means that, as soon as the Ballast Water Management Convention does meet its ratification criteria, thousands of ships will need to be fitted in a very short time.Whilst strenuous efforts were made by industry, this will put unattainable demands on ship repair facilities, engineering capabilities and on ...

IACS in the next 12 months

An electronic library of technical resolutions The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has released the new version of its Blue Book - an electronic library of technical resolutions (both past and present) adopted by IACS as a result of its technical work.Sections include: IACS Unified Requirements which IACS members incorporate into their Rules Unified Interpretations of IMO convention requirements which IACS Members apply uniformly when acting on behalf of authorising flag Administrations, unless instructed otherwise Procedural Requirements governing practices among IACS Members IACS Charter and IACS Procedures which define the purpose, aim and working procedures of the Association Recommendations relating to adopted resolutions that are not necessarily matters of Class but which IACS considers would be helpful to offer some advice to the marine industry UR - Unified Requirements Status advising on implementation status UR HF & TB containing the History and Technical Background files for the Unified Requirements Quality Documents containing QSCS (IACS' Quality System Certification Scheme) description, Quality Management System Requirements, Audit Requirements, ACB (Accredited Certification Bodies) requirements and other quality proceduresTo download your copy, please visit the IACS website's publications page.Source : IACS

Ships will be allowed only if they satisfy conditions such as having adequate insurance The Government has decided to restrict the entry of ships over 25 years old into Indian ports or territorial waters. "Most of the ships involved in accidents, such as the MSC Chitra and M.V. Khalijia are very old.Therefore, the Government has decided to issue a notification under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, that such ships will be allowed only if they satisfy conditions such as having adequate insurance to cover liabilities including collision, wreck removal and salvage," said the Union Minister for Shipping, Mr G.K. Vasan, in Parliament. Such ships should be classed with Classification Societies which are full members of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), and should appoint an Indian Ship Agent to represent the owner/charterer.Also, the Indian agent should notify the Port authority and the Customs Collector at least 48 hours prior to the arrival of the ship about the details of the ship including insurance. Mr Vasan said that 93 Indian flag ships are over 25 years old. However, they will not be affected as they are all classed with the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS), which is a full member ...

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 ...