International News

In response to a string of major incidents, trade association Interferry has produced operational best practice guidance for fire safety on RO/RO ship vehicle deck.

The guidance is based on input from a questionnaire sent to association members last year following at least seven serious fire incidents on ROpax ferries in Europe since 2010. The two most recent incidents resulted in fatalities and total loss of the ships, prompting the initiative by Interferry’s Operators Policy Committee to identify and publicize a common set of best practice mitigating actions.

Continue reading “Best practices for RO/RO vehicle deck fire safety released”

A new class notation from DNV GL aims to help shipowners prepare newbuilds for scrubber installations. Scrubber Ready ensures that the necessary preparations are in place for a smooth and cost-efficient scrubber retrofit at a later stage, the classification society said.

“There is no doubt that stricter emissions regulations for sulphur oxides are here to stay,” said Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO at DNV GL – Maritime. “This new Scrubber Ready Class notation gives shipowners the flexibility to minimize their initial investment when ordering a newbuilding, while at the same time having the confidence that their vessels are already on the track to easy compliance with incoming emissions regulations.”

“Ship managers have to factor in many considerations when planning for a potential future scrubber installation, from space and stability requirements, to fire safety, piping, corrosion resistance and the effect on the main engine,” said Hans Jacob Horgen, responsible engineer at DNV GL for exhaust gas cleaning rules. “It is very important to have an overview of the design and an understanding of how the system will interact with the engines and auxiliary Continue reading “New DNV GL Class notation announced: Scrubber Ready”

PrimeShip-HULL (HCSR) has long been the go-to design support system for ship designers worldwide. To date, over 800 licenses have been provided to more than 90 shipyards. In response to the latest amendments to the IACS Common Structural Rules for Bulk Carriers and Oil Tankers (CSR BC & OT), ClassNK has just released its latest version, PrimeShip-HULL (HCSR) Ver. 3.0.0.

Adopted in 2013, the CSR BC & OT were designed to enhance safety and reliability. Although they represent a major step forward for ship safety, they also present a number of new challenges for shipyards and designers due largely to the increase in overall vessel design time. To alleviate the burden of these new rules on ship designers and cut down the required man hours, ClassNK released PrimeShip-HULL(HCSR), a multi-functional vessel design support tool that makes it easy for designers to carry out rule calculations and optimize their designs.

Continue reading “New PrimeShip-HULL system released by ClassNK”