44 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MAY 2014
Q
Representing
“Class”
James Watson, President &
COO, Americas Division, ABS
Philippe Donche-Gay, Execu-
tive Vice president and Head of
the Marine and Offshore Division,
Bureau Veritas
Noboru Ueda, Chairman &
President, ClassNK
Paal Johansen, Head of the
Americas Region for DNV GL –
Maritime
Tim Protheroe, President,
Lloyd’s Register North America,
Inc.
Roberto P. Cazzulo, RINA
Paal Johansen, DNV GL
The stricter environmental regulations
and rising fuel costs lead to technology
development in design, size, propulsion
and operations. This goes well beyond
LNG as fuel, and we believe we will see
a more diversifi ed mix, with batteries,
hybrids, methanol and so on.
James Watson, ABS
The traditional focus on class has been
on certifying the safety of steel struc-
tures. Today, with the increasing em-
phasis on safety from the environmental
perspective, the focus has shifted from
structures to systems, looking at optimi-
zation of the hull form and of the equip-
ment onboard.
Traditional physical model testing re-
mains an essential component of hull
form development, but analytical tech-
niques, such as Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD), have come into their
own software able to handle the complex
calculations required.
Arriving at the most effi cient vessel
requires looking at the hull and the as-
sociated appendages – propeller, rudder,
energy saving devices, bulbous bow (or
no bulb) – as a complete and integrated
system.
This also extends inside the ship to the
type of central power plant, effi ciency
of onboard systems and energy man-
agement, fuel choices and measures to
reduce consumption, compliance with
emission standards for SOX and NOx,
ballast water and underwater noise.
This is increasingly facilitated through
technologies utilized onboard to moni-
tor, record and assess performance. ABS
is continuing to improve its products and
services to enable an expanding scope of
transparent sharing of performance data
between the owner and class to assist in
this process.
This sharing of data is also laying the
path for a shift in the near future, away
from traditional prescriptive require-
ments towards more risk-based classifi -
cation activities, such as annual surveys.
This will be made possible by class and
industry working closely together to
share information and have a better un-
derstanding of performance of both ship
structures and the associated onboard
systems.
Noboru Ueda, ClassNK
Without a doubt, the biggest change
MARINE POWER REPORT
Marine Propulsion
When talk turns to ma-
rine propulsion and the
host of surrounding top-
ics – emissions, effi ciency,
fuel consumption – we
turn to class for answers.
While there are just two
questions, the ensuing
answers from leaders at
ABS, BV, ClassNK, DNV
GL, LR and RINA are vo-
luminous & enlightening.
By Greg Trauthwein
As the industry has been faced with simultaneous regulatory
& market pressures over the past five years, what do you con-
sider to be the most influential changes to the vessel and why?
Watson
Donche-Gay
Ueda
Johansen Protheroe Cazzulo
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