Page 42: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q1 2014)

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42 | Maritime Professional | 1Q 2014

CLASS ROUNDTABLE

What has been the biggest evolution of class in the past fi ve years?

Roberto P. Cazzulo, RINA: Over the past years, there has been a big evolution of class rules into the new Goal Based

Standards. The GBS are a way to establish a close link between class rules with goals and functional requirements established by the IMO. Nowadays we are establishing this link for design and construction of new bulk carriers and oil tankers, contract- ed for construction on or after 1 July 2016. The IACS Com- mon Structural Rules, adopted in December 2013 and that will enter into force in July 2015, will be subject to GBS verifi ca- tion. Within IACS, we are also discussing the development of functional requirements for structural safety of post-Panamax containerships, focusing on hull girder strength and standard load case defi nitions. This will be another move towards the

GBS philosophy in the near future. The GBS approach may also be expanded to look at machinery and automation systems in a holistic way, because they are fully integrated and cannot be seen in isolation, from ship’s performance point of view.

Tim Protheroe, Lloyd’s Register North America: The growth in consultancy is a signifi cant evolution. We are seeing an increased focus on operational performance as well as our core safety role. There’s no doubt that we had been providing this additional support to owners for a long time but now we are seeing the packaging of these services across the board – by class and by other consultants.

Now encompassing myriad roles, what is next for “class?”

Noboru Ueda, ClassNK: I think the biggest change for

ClassNK has actually been the expansion of our role from working purely as a regulator, to being an innovator of new technology. The reality today is that we are developing more advanced and rational rules, that are leading to more robust, safer, and more effi cient ships but at the same time new regu- lations and higher standards can also mean greater burdens for shipyards and operators. As organizations dedicated to sup- porting the maritime industry, it’s not enough to just create better and stricter standards, we also need to proactively in- novate new tools and best practices to make it easier for yards and owners to not just reach compliance, but also achieve higher levels and operations.

Philippe Donche-Gay, BV: Three things have changed for classifi cation societies. The range and depth of services they

The Evolution

The role of Classifi cation societies is ever changing, with signifi cant material impact on the maritime market. In this edition, MarPro helps set the stage to and through 2020, with insights from leaders in Class on the burning issues.

By Greg Trauthwein

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