both the expertise to devise technical solutions to ship-
ping problems, and the ability to deliver that expertise
globally. There is no nation state anywhere in the
world, however powerful, which has the expertise or
outreach to regulate global shipping. Every state has
had to outsource more and more of its oversight of
shipping to class, and every state relies on class to
deliver expertise across a global network. So class has
had to get better at building and maintaining quality
networks across the whole globe.
GL: Classification societies are the driving force
behind innovation in shipbuilding. Their mission is and
has been to increase the technical safety of marine-
related facilities in order to protect life, property and
the environment. They establish and apply technical
standards for the design, construction and periodic sur-
veys of ships during their lifespan. These requirements
are published as classification rules and cover structur-
al strength and integrity of essential parts of the ship's
hull, and the functioning and reliability of propulsion
and steering systems, as well as power generation. By
maintaining significant research departments classifi-
cation societies are continuously promoting the on-
going development of technical safety standards. This
role will continue since no other institution could sub-
stitute the vast technical knowledge and experience of
the naval architects, ship building and machinery engi-
neers.
LR: Common Rules: The development and intro-
duction of common Rules for tankers and bulk carriers
has been a massive undertaking and their significance,
both to the industry and the role of classification, can-
not be overstated. The current challenge for class is to
introduce these common Rules and to help ensure uni-
form implementation. This will be followed by an
effort focusing on harmonizing the tanker and bulk car-
rier Rules. As they currently stand, the two rule sets
have different approaches to a number of key technical
areas, including loads, finite element analysis and
fatigue. Nevertheless, we are confident that the initial
release of both sets of new Rules will take place as
scheduled on April 1, 2006.
Goal-based standards: Through IACS, we continue to
work with IMO on developing goal-based standards
for new construction. Tiers I and II* have been dis-
cussed at length and corresponding texts have now
been developed. Discussion is now centering around
the need for a Tier 0 to provide an overarching state-
ment of principle. There is an ongoing discussion about
which format the goal-based standards should adopt,
balancing a risk-based approach with prescriptive
requirements. Whilst both have merits, our view is that
a fully non-prescriptive regime would not prove to be
capable of uniform application, at least at this stage of
development.
Emerging European legislation: The legislation recent-
ly passed by the EU could potentially expose classifi-
cation societies to criminal sanctions if they are found
guilty of deliberate or "seriously negligent" acts caus-
ing maritime pollution. The Third Maritime Package,
or 'Erika III', also has implications for class, particular-
ly in the realm of statutory matters. It is therefore more
important than ever that we continue to work closely
with the EU, both individually and through IACS to
address the issues raised by the European Commission
in its approach to improving the quality of shipping in
Europe and worldwide.
RINA: A couple of years ago we found ourselves fac-
ing up to three major challenges. First, we had to help
flag states find a better relationship between what they
regulate for at IMO and how it is delivered. We had to
find a way to make the idea of goal-based standards
work in practice. At the same time, we had to regain
the confidence of the industry we serve, because trust
in class had been eroded over the last decade. And
while we were tackling those two issues, we also had
to find mechanisms to enable 10 competing class soci-
eties with different technical experience and rules to sit
down together and produce the common shipbuilding
rules which industry quite rightly wants. It was a pret-
ty full agenda.
Hindsight being 20/20, what do you consider to be the
biggest mistake you have seen in the industry during your
career?
BV: I think the biggest mistake was a collective failure
by traditional maritime nations to foresee the effects of
globalization. Now we are fighting hard to retain our
core shipowners and core expertise, but we should
22 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
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Class Society Q&A
MR AUGUST 2005 #3 (17-24).qxd 8/4/2005 5:49 PM Page 22
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