8/17/2019 Role of IACS and the Classification Societies in Vessel Maintenance

1/4

THE SOCIETY OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND MARINE ENGINEERS

S01Pmvon[aAv nus Suito400 J rmmyCity NowJmgy 07S0S USA

Paprprwehtd ulthe M e SttuctutalIns@inn Malntmana mdMonitor inoSyrrrmium

Shwakm Ndimd HaId Arhmgtnn qiniu. Mad I IQ 1991

Role Of IACS and the Classification Societies in

Vessel Maintenance

A.

d’E. Bourneuf Jr. for IACS

American Bureau of Shipping Paramus New Jersey

The modern in terna t i ona l sh ipc lass ibt i on societ i es es-

tablishandadministertandardscalledRulesforthede-

sign,construction,ndperiodicsurveyofmerehantships

andothermarinestructures.Through t h e wor k of t h eir

t echnica l and f ie ld surveyors , t i e societ i es cert i fy tha t the

vessels a dh er e t o t hese R ules, a pr ocedu re kn ow n a s

c1assi6cation,ndto thatextentprovideforthemechani-

calandstructuralitnessof thevesselsfortheirintended

service.

B eca u se of t he w a y t hey a r e o rg a niz ed a n d oper a te, t he

cl a ss soci et ie s a r e ab le t o ma i nt a i n an impar ti a l and un-

compromised

position in performing classifkation func-

tions throughout the worl~ a position which is in the best

interest of, and is ftiy endorsed by the marine industry.

In this way, the societies are most effectively able to act

as self-regulatory agencies to the industry.

TheRules uponwhichclassifications predicatedare

establishedromprinciplesofnavalarchitecture,msrine

eng ineming, and other engi rmr ing d iscipl ines tha t have

proven sa t i s fac toryby serv ice exper ience and sys temat i c

analysis .

Mos t m a jor m iet ies pr omulga t e a n d a n nu a lly u pd a te

the ir Rules through commit tees composed of prominent

n a va l a r ch it ect s, m a rin e en gin eer s, d es ig ner s, s hip

builders,ma nuf cturersa ndudenvriters,shipwwrsa nd

o~a tors, government representa t ivesand otherindividu-

alsintemat ional ly eminent int hemarinefie ld , al lof whom

ser ve w it h ou t compen sa t ion , The commit t ee a r ra n ge-

men t ha s t hed i st inct advan t ageo f a l low ing a l l s egmen t s

of t h e ia d us t ry t o pa r t icipa t e i n d evelopin g t h e v a riou s

Rules. As a resuh of t hesepr~ , theRules a re both

au thmi ta t i ve and impard a l and r ep resen t a r esounx

of

exper ience f a ct or s b rough t t o it f rom exper t s t he worl d

over . I t is t hemar i ne i ndus tr y , t hen,who det erm ines t he

stan dardsfor classi . t at ionwhich are tran slatedinto pub

f ishedRules and adminis teredby thec laA at ion socie-

ties,

On e of t he b a sic r eq uir em en ts of t he R ules is @ on ce

classed, it is incumbentupontheownerto presentthe

vesselforperiodicsumeywhisis a conditionofclass. It

is alsoanobligationof theownertopresenta vesselfor

surveyhathassustaineddamagewhichmayaffectclass,

Thesesurveysprovidea meansforthesocietyto deter-

mine tha t an enrol led vessel i s proper ly main t a ined in the

sense tha t i t cont inues to meet theRule requirementsand

t o t ha t ex terk eon t itmes t o be s t ruct u ra l lyand mechan i-

ea lt y fit for it s in ten ded s er vice, P er iod ic s ur vey s a r e

requiredannua l lya nd more concentra tedsurveysat i r lter-

va ls of fou r t o fiv e yms , w it h in termed ia t e sumey s for

most vessels .

Perimlicsunreysareperformedby fieldsurveyorsof the

classibtion mieties. Theserequireindividualswith

subst a nt ia l lr air hg a n d expien ee in t his m ar in e sp-

cia lt y. Th ey mrefully follow t he m@remen ts of t he

Rules in conduct ing a periodic sumey of a vessel t o

determinethat thevessel, in fact , adheresto thoserequire-

ments . To ass i st them, f ie ld surveyorsha ve thekmel lt of

ci rcu la r l et t er s , p r epa r ed by t he sm ie ty ’s h t iqua r t er s ,

wh ich a r e gui dance not es r ela t i ve t o t he pa r t icu la r s and

pecu lia r it ies of cer t a in t y pes of v es sels , componen t s,

st ructuralarra ngementsor other uniquefeatures.

In pforming peridie surveys, it is t he in tent of t he

s ociet y t o pr ev en t a v es sel f rom fWng in t o sub st a nda r d

cond it i on as determinedby thevessel ’s ab i J i t yto meet the

Rule requirements. The periodic survey requirementsare

ba sed upn a

vast

number of s hip-y ea r s of s er vice ex -

per ience . These are cont inua l ly rev iewcxi a nd examined

for the ir e ffect i veness in view of indus t rydeve lopments .

Als o, a r ecu rr in g p r oblem in a pa r ticu la r t yp of v es sel

component or s tmctura l a r r angementcanbe ident ikl and

i sol a ted for closer scru t inyand , i f mnsidered appropr ia te

b y t h e wx iet y’s t echnica l commit t ees , nw is ion s t o t h e

R uks ca n be m a de,

I t i s t heowner ’s responsibil ity to mainta inthevessel. The

f ie ld smeyor , and t hus t hec la s s soci et y , can on ly r ecord

reporLa ndmeornmendin accordance wi th what i s seena t

t he t ime of a survey. I f t he vessel should be found in

subs t andardcond it i on in thesense tha t i t i s not in compli -

ance wi th the cl ass requirements, thenrecommendat ions

a r emade for cormet i ons . I f t he cor r ect ions a r eno t made

in keepin g w it h t h e r eq uir emen t s of t h eRu les , t h en t h e

wiety would te rmina te thevessel ’s cl ass ifka t i on .

Because of the signif icant reservoir of marineexperience

and ex t ens ive r e sou rm of manpowe r and t echnol ogy of

t h e ma jor in t er na t ion a l cla s sif ica t ion m iet ies , m any

governments have authori zed the societ i es to ac t on the ir

l B l

8/17/2019 Role of IACS and the Classification Societies in Vessel Maintenance

2/4

b eh a lf . Th is wor k h a s in cr ea s ed sub st a n t ia l ly in rw en t

y ea r s w it h t he proliferationof nationalregulations,and

internationalcodesand conventionssuch as thoseof

Loadline-1966,Tonnage-1969,MarinePollutionPre-

vention-1973andSafetyofLifeat Sea-1974,MODU

Code,BulkChemicalCodeandotherCodesogetherwith

theira s sm ia t ed p rotuol s and amendmen t s .

To g ive you an i de a of t hemagn it u&of t hecl a ss ifma t i on

m ie ti es i nvol vemen t it i s es t ima t edt ha tmore t han 7

of a ll loa dli.ne cefica tes issued t o sh ips en ga ged in

in t er na t ion a lt r a de - nmrkr in g s ome 39,000 over a fiv e

yea r pried - result from surveys by t he m ajor int er-

n a t ion a l cla s dk a t ion sw iet ies a s d o 90 of a ll SOLAS

Cargo Sh ip Sa f et y Cer t bl ca t e s i ssued t o sh ip sengaged i n

i nt erna t iona lt r ade - numking some 26,0(H Iover a f ive

year @id.

S im ila r t o classticationrequi rements , cert a in s t a tu tory

regula t i onsrequireP r iod ic smveys to determine tha t the

vessel is being mainta inedasrequiredby thoseregulat ions

a nd in t h a t s en s e does not b ecome d ef icien t . S ome of t h e

surveysrequired fm these In te rna t i ona lConvent ions and

Codes pa r a lle l t hose r equ ir ed by cl a s s wherea s ot her sdo

no~ However , thec lass societ i es arew orking to schedule

cla s s a n d s ta t utmy s uw ey s t o t he bes t a d va n ta ge o f t he

owner -a prucedure which i spopul ar ly ca l led harmoniza-

t i on of su rvey s .

Whenactingonbehalfofthegovernmentsnaccordance

withtherequirementsfa conventionorCode,thesocie-

tiescanonlyrecordmpomandrecommendbasedupon

thatwhichisseenat thetimeofthesurvey.Ifa vesselis

founddeficien~the societywouldrecommendo the

Ownerthatwhichis necessaryo fulHltheregulations.

ShouldanOwnernotmakethenecessaryorrections,he

societywouldrefusetocontinuecerdficationndreport

thistothegovernmentwhowouldtakeappropriatection.

The various aforementionedntemation~~tinventions

and Codesare developedand promulgawlunderthe

auspicesof IhIO,theInternationalMaritimeOrganim-

tion,whichh anad@nctoftheUnitedNations.Itwasin

the early1960sthat IMO,previouslycalledIMCOfor

IntergovernmentalMaritimeConsultativeOrganization,

becamea viableforumfor the developmentof inter-

nationalmaritime~gulationsat thegovernmentevel.At

thattime,theclassi6cationwieties,asa group,deemed

itbeneficialoestablisha liaisonwithIMCO.However,

as a matterof interes~cooperativeeffortsamong.he

smietieshadalreadycommencedesultingim the1930

InternationalConventionnLoadLineswhichurgedsuch

efforts“insecuringasmuchuniformityspossiblem the

applicationofthestandardsonwhichfreeboardsbased.”

Ensu in g cooper a t iv e ef for t s led t o wor ld ng pa r t ies f or

in dept h s t ud ies o f s pecif ic t opics , t h e lk st of wh ich w a s

t heWorking Pa r t y on Hu ll S t ruct um lS t ee l i n 1957, f ol -

l owed by Working pa r t ie son E l ect r odes and Equ ipmen t

in 1959, a n d su bseq uen tly ot her s. I n 1968 t he I nt er -

na t i ona lAssoci a t ion of C la s s ifmmion Socie t ie s - IACS -

w a s forma lly es ta b lis hed a s a g rou p w it h t he m ember s

being t he ma jor in terna tiona l cla sst ilca tion societ ies,

n amel y, Amer ican Bureau of Sh ippi ng , Bu reau Veri ta s ,

De t norskeVeri t as , Ger rnani scherL loyd , L loyd ’s Reg is-

t e r o f Sh ippi ng ,N ippon Ka i ji Kyoka i and Reg is t r o I t a li -

a n o Nava le. S in ce t h en Pols ki R ejes t r S t a t kow , Kor ean

Reg is ter of Shippinga ndUSSRRegi sk ,rof Shippingha ve

been a dded a s m em ber s a n d J u gosla ven ski Regist a r

B rodova a s a n a ssocia te member . According t o t he

cha r t er of IACS , t hepurpose of t he a s soci a t ion is t o work

t owa rd s t he improvemen t of s t and a rdsof s a f et y a t sea , t o

p rov ide for consult a t i on and cooper a t ion w i t h r el evan t

in terna t i ona l and na t iona l mar i t imeorganiza t i ons and to

coopemte closel y wi th themar ine indus t r iesof thew or ld.

Each society i s to promote thea imswhich thea ssoci a t i on

holds in common.

A

foca l poin t of I ACS is fou nd in t h e a ct iv it ies of IMO

and in thisregardthe for ma t ion of I AC S a ffor ds t he

societ i es a unif ied voi ce for coopera t i on and consult a t i on

w it h IMO and , i n a d dit ion , g iv es it collect iv e inpu t a s a n

or g an iz a t ion t o IMO del iber a t i ons . IMO, i n r ecogn it ion

of IACS , g ra n t ed i t con su lt a t iv e s t a t u sin 1969. I t is f a ir

t o = y t he IMO looks t o IACS , w h ich h a am a d e e ss en tia l

cont r ibu t ions to those por t i ons of in terna t i ona l conven-

t i ons and cmks wh ich a r ew i t h in t he experd se of t hecl a s s

societ ies for a ssist a nce. For inst a nce, IACS ha s

devel oped f t iy i nt erpr et a t i onsof pa r t so f t heLoad L ine

Convent ion in the in te res tof t rea t inga ll sh ipsa l ike under

t heconven t ion . Mos t of t hesehavebeen adop t ed by IMO

and moreirnportan t ly ,bythe Administrat ionswhich have

au thor ized t he soci et i es t o ac t a s t heir a s s ign ing au thor i-

ties,

The IACS Counci l h a s adop t ed over one hundred t e chn i-

ca l r es olu t ion s on ma t t er s r ela t in g t o cla s sif ww ion r e-

quirements. Overa l l, about 90 of the requi rementsa re

im plem en ted in on e w a y or a not her by t he m em ber s.

However , a d opt ion b y t h e Council d oes not mean au t o-

mat i c inclus ion in to the Rules of member societ i es , Each

w iet y r et a in s f ull con tr ol over t he con ten t of it s ow n

Rules throughi t s individua l ru le-making pmess , Coun-

ci l memlms are ob li ged to present adopted requi rements

to the ir “governing bod ies” for cons idera t i on, and in some

ca s es , m@r em en ts h a ve been ~ ject ed or m od ified by

t hesegovern ing Imdi es . Because of t h is , a nd because of

d if fe r ing philosophies as to jus t what should be included

in t heRu les , t he IACS Requ ir emen t smaybe i ncl uded i n

full , i npm or i rr t heform of in t erna t iona lin s t ruct ions . I t

is f req u en t ly d if ficu lt t o m ake a d ir ect compa r is on h -

t ween t he R ules of a ny societ y a n d t he I AC S r w@r e-

ments . When dea l ing wi th individua l sh ips ,each society

f ol lows i ts own Ru les .

Mos t of t h e IACS

requirements

relate to the construct ion

of the shipa nd i t sma chinery inst a l l a t ion. The process of

u nit lca t ion am on g t he s ociet ies bega n w hen sh ippin g a nd

shipbuilding became truly internat ional in the period fol-

lowing World Warl I ,anddesigners and shipbui lderswere

l-B-2

8/17/2019 Role of IACS and the Classification Societies in Vessel Maintenance

3/4

f aced wi th theprob lem of producing ser i e ships, some of

wh ich m ight be order ed t o cl a s s w i t h d if fer en t soci et i es .

m e R ules of t he i n@idu al societ ies w@ d ev@ped on

t h e b a sis of t h eir own exper kn ce and of t h e e ng in eer in g

philosophies, pract i ces and s t andardsin the ir own cmm-

I ries , Ta ken a s a w hole, ea ch set of R ules pr ovides a

sa t i s fac torysolut i on to theeng ineeringprob lem of how to

build a sh ipw hich ca n cot ident ly b ex~ t ed t o s a tisfy

Fat herNeptune’s requirements. A@.nst thisbaekgrouna

it w ill n ot be s ur pr id ng t ha tm os t of t he IACS R@r e-

m en ts con cer n t h os e it em s w h ich ca n be d ea lt w it h a s

discrete uni ts ,anddonothaveto b integratd intothe

overall structure. These i nclude s tee l speci fi ca t i ons ,

we ld ing consumab les , anchor s and s t ee ri ng gea r , and a

number of ot her mach iner y componen t s . Un i fi ca t i on i s

n o~ a s s om e m a y SUSWL a ‘m a tt er of pickin g t he lea s t

common d en om in a tor . I t is r a th er a r efin em en t of t he

ind iv idua l Ru le s, t ak ing i nt o ac coun t rhe col le ct ive ex-

per ience of a ll t hemembr socie ti es . I n i nd iv idua l ca ses ,

some membershave&n able tore l axa l it t l e,whi le others

h a ve h ad t o t ig ht enup a bi~

In theear l yda ys of IACS , surveysa f t e rcons t ruct i onw ere

r ega rd ed a s a n in ter na l m a tt er t o k d ea lt w it h by ea ch

smiet y in a ccor da nce w it h it s ow n pr cdu res. Th e in -

creased in teres ton thepar t of thepubli c and Admini st r a t -

i ons r el a t ivet o sh ip sa f et y and @lu t ion has l ed us t o l ook

in to s ur vey r eq uir em en ts a n d pm ct ices . Mu ch of t his

w or k h a s ken don e in con ju nct ion w it h lMO, t hr ou gh

IACS obse rver s and w i t h suppor t f r om s t a f fmember s of

the IACS societ ies servingon nat ionaldelegat ions. Thus,

we prov ided subs t an t ia li nput t o t he IMO guidel ines f or

t he MZUIda t or yAnnua l Su rvey and for t he In t ermed ia t e

Surveys for Older Tankers. Whi le i t i s d i. ff lcu lt t o assess

t h e i n flu en ce IACS h ad on t h e out come, t h e r es t d~ IMO

Assembly Resolut ion A.413(XII) (Guidelines on Surveys

and Inspect i ons Under t heP rotmol of 1978), i s compa t -

iblew i thc las .dka t i on surveys

andprocedurm.TheMan-

 toryAnnualSurveyis essentiallya descriptionof an

annualsurveyforclassas it is normallycarriedoutbya

com~tentsurveyor.IACShaa,infaegadoptedasclass

requirementshosepartsoftheResolutionwhichptain

toclassitems.

The requi rementson t ankersurveys ,w i th which many of

t h is a udien ce a r e f amilia r , w er e pu rely a n IACS ef fcm t

unde rt aken in r ecogn it ion of t he f a c t t h a t t he ol de r, l a rge

ta nkers,which are st i llworldng, wi l l need carefulsurveys,

and in the lxJ i ef tha t i t i s h ighly des imble tha t thesac ie t ies

t a ke a common a ppr oa ch t o t hes e s hips . S om e ow n er s

wou ld lik e u s t o ex amine t h eir v es sels v er y

thoroughly

w it h a v iew t o helpin g t h em t o pla n ma in t en an ce fm t h e

l if e of t he sh ip . Un for t una t e ly t her e a r ea f ew who wou ld

r ea l ly p re fer t h a t t he su rveyor jus t ver if y t hename of t he

shipsoitwillbecorrectonhisrepon.

The major it y wan t t he cl a ss if ica t i on soci et y t o w iny ou t

enough examinat iont o assessthe vewel ’s condi t ion prop-

..

er ly a n d t o in sis t on r epa ir s n eces sa ry t o m ain ta in it s

f imess for seMce , a t l eas tunt i l thenext scheduled survey,

to he lp themfulfd l the ir ob li ga t i on to main t a in thevessel

in a cond it i on requi red to main t a in it s cl ass if ica t i on . The

IACS requ ir emen t s r ef lect wha t i n ou r col le ct ive judg-

m en ~ is t he ext en t of exam in a tion n eed ed t o s er ve t ha t

purpose. Feedback sofar revea ls tha tmost owners appear

t o& sa t is ll cd w i t h t henew requ ir emen t s . I t w i ll b e some

t ime, of cou r se , befor e we can ful ly a s ses s t he ef fect ive-

nes s of t he sy s t em . I n t he i n ter im ,we a r e mon it or ing t he

e ffect s on s tmctumlcond it i on of crude oi l washing , iner t

gas , and segrega tedba l las t .

O the r su rvey s wh ich have ken consideredby IACSare

tailshafts,ntemls f or b ile r su rvey s , andexam ina t iono f

t he s hip’s bot t om , t og et her w it h r ela t ed it em s s uch a s

rudderp in t lesa nd sea chews .

Sever a l of t he IACS requ ir emen t s ,wh ich wou ld seem to

rel a te to new cons t ruct i o~ have a l soproven benef ici a l in

the f i eld of sh ipmain tenanm. These are the requi rements

f or -hull s t eel, w eld in g ccmsumab les , a n d an chor s a nd

chain. Because thesociet ies’ requirementsfor thesei tems

a r e un if orm , su rveyor s can ac cept f or r epa ir or r ep la c e-

ment mater ia l swhich are proper l y documented as being

in compli ance wi th therequirementsof any of themember

societ im , w i th a minimum of checking of themater ia l sfor

h im self . Thus , r epa i r y a r ds a r e spa r ed t h e expen se of

main t a in ing inventori es of matmia l scomply ing wi th the

r eq uir em en ts of ea ch of t he in divid ua l s ociet ies , a n d

owners n ecotident that su it ab lema teri a l i s being

u- for repa ir of their sh ips a nyw here in t he w orld .

Na tu ra l ly ,when ma t er ia l h a s t o be order ed for ex t ens ive

r ep a ir s, w e expect t h a t it w ill b e or der ed t o t h e specit 3c

requi rementsof thesociety wi th which theship i s cl assed ,

L430kingahea d IACS

is

t ak ing an ac ti ve interest

n

con-

di t ionmoni tor ing, which shows promisea sa subst i tutefor

d isman t ling many mach iner y componen t s f or v isua l in -

spection.

Once t h e t echn iq u es h a ve b een s t ilcien t ly r ef in ed and

pr ov en , t his is expect ed t o be a d ev elopm en t w h ich a ll

OWTI~

will

we lcome. A va r ia t i ono f cond it ion mon it or .

mg has a l rw idybeen adoptedby some societ i es for exami-

n a t ion of t a ils ha f t sw i th oil lu br ica t ed k a rin gs , wher e

ch eckin g of wwmlow n a n d a n a ly sis of t he oil h a s let u s

extend considerably the intervalsbetween tai l shaf tdmw-

irlgs.

Hul l surve il lance is another f i eld in which IACS i s t ak ing

an interest ,Atpresen~ hul lsurveil lanceisdirectedtowa rd

measuringand recording loads imposed on theh ul lgi r&r

a n d in t he s lammin g a r ea ov er a per iod of t im e, bu t it is

conceivable tha t thetechniquescould be usedto assessthe

overa l l s t reng thof the hull ,perhapsmore accura te ly than

i s now done by t ak ingg aug ing s.

The f ie lds of cond it i on moni tor ing and hull surve il lance

of fe r cons ider ab le p rom ise for improv ing our ab ili ty t o

a s ses s t he cond it i on of sh ip sa nd theirmach iner y . I n t he

opin ion of t he a u t hor , it w ill be a lon g t ie befor e d ia ls ,

l B 3

8/17/2019 Role of IACS and the Classification Societies in Vessel Maintenance

4/4

gauges,

and gadge ts can rep la ce theeyes, e a rs , a nd judg-

ment of theexptx ienced surveyor .

Experiences retd ly thecore for thec la ss ilka t ion requ ire-

ment s w hich, a s emkdied in t he Rules, form a com -

pend ium of exper ience der ived born yea r s and yea r s of

sh ip ser vice a n d t he exper dse of a w or ldw id e b od y of

individualsprominentin al l phasesof thema rineindusfry.

Th is is t o my m in d on e of t he g r ea t vir tues of t he ma jor

cl a ss socie ty for t here i s no other organi za t i on wi th th is

reservoi ro f knowledge and empir ica l da ta and I daresay ,

no ot her group t ha t could provide a fa csimile t o t he

cl a s~ca t ion funct i on .

Concernshavebeenexpresedfromd.meotimethatthe

societiw’requirementsn onewayor anotherare not

stringentnough a ca s e inpoint herebeing thecor ros ion

of s t ructura lmembers in tankssubject to crude oi l wash-

ing , which i s ra t her iron ic in v iew of thepmpoaes of crude

oi l wash ing . Such deter iora t ion from accelera ted corro-

sion ma y or ma y not in fa ct , be t he ca se. B ut you ma y

res t ~ su red th aL th rough ou r resou rces and the inpu t of

indus t ry, such as i s eviden t here today , the cl a ssi .tka t ion

wxiet ies a r e clos ely wa t ch in g t h is a n d ot h er pot en t ia l

pr ob lem ma t t er s f or pos sib le r emed ia l a ct ion , s uch a s

revisions t o t be Rules a nclhr circula rs of inst ruct ion,

Foryourinformation, theIACS Counci l inFebruary1991,

au thor i zedthefcmna t ionof an IACS Qua l ity commit tee.

Th is w ill lea d t o a ll IACS Societ ies b ein g a u dit edby a n

a ud it in g g rou p t o be a ppoin ted by t he IAC S C oun cil.

Wh il e det a i ls a re not comple t e a t t h is d ine, I ’m sure th a t

m em ber s of t he indus~ w ill w elcome t his a ct ion by

IAcs.

Let me leave you wi th t hethought tha t i t i s you , themar ine

industry,who mustdeterminestanda rds ;we, thesmiet ies ,

can on ly t r an sl a t ethem into Rule requ iremen t s th rough

interact ion with you through our Technical Committees .

We a r e a lw a ys a t y ou r s er vice a n d r a dy t o ca oper a te in

establishing and administeringRules that are cmsidered

a min imum necess a r y t o prov ide for a ves sel ’s s t ru ctu ra l

and mechan ica l f it n es swhen fa cing the r igor s of t hesea .

l B 4