Download - Royal Australian Navy

12 NAVY ENGINEERING BULLETIN AUGUST 2002
an opportunity for survey work by
the relevant classification society.
In addition, these societies are
being provided with detailed
design packages for design
approvals, consulted on repair
proposals and contacted for
general technical advice. However,
with classification being a fairly
new process, the involvement of
these societies may not be fully
understood and may appear to
some to be additional cost and
overhead without adding value.
In broad terms, a classification
society’s main role is to issue
Certificates of Class. These
certificates indicate compliance with
a rule set relevant to the ship type.
These rules provide for the structural
strength and watertight integrity of
the hull, the operation and
functioning of machinery and
associated systems on board as well
as the effectiveness of other defined
features and systems built into the
ship to establish and maintain basic
conditions on board.
Ships can either be built to class,
that being they are constructed in
accordance with the classification
society rule set, or existing ships can
be brought into class while in
service. The owner is then to decide
whether the ship will be maintained
in class, and if so, assign a survey
program to do so.
Other than the basic Certificate of
Class, classification societies also
have the authority to issue statutory
certificates on behalf of the Flag
state. Statutory certificates indicate
compliance with International
Maritime Organisation (IMO)
regulations, which include Safety Of
Life At Sea (SOLAS) and Marine
Pollution (MARPOL) regulations.
Since the RAN is its own flag state,
classification societies issue
certificates of compliance on behalf
of the RAN.
In addition certain classification
societies, such as Lloyds have
developed specific rule sets for
“Naval classification” which allows
Navies to be freed from the
limitations of statutory requirements,
and are far less constrained and so
able to address the requirements of
navies and naval ships in a flexible
yet authoritative way. Indeed,
experience to date has certainly
demonstrated a good level of
flexibility by all class societies in
order to accommodate for the
unique nature and function of naval
vessels.
Classification vs. Certification
The driver for implementing a
classification process stems from
RAN policy as set out in ABR 5454
RAN Regulatory Framework and
Certification Manual and DI (N) LOG
47-3 Technical Regulation of Navy
Materiel. These documents refer to
‘Certification’ as meeting a
‘Certification Basis’ which is the suite
of certificates identified as being
necessary to deem a ship is safe,
environmentally compliant and fit for
purpose. This suite of certificates
includes the certificate of class and
any statutory certificates which when
issued by a third party can be used
as objective evidence that the
vessels meet the requirements.
Therefore the classification process
is the initial step in attaining overall
Certification.
DI(N) LOG 47-3 is based on 6 key
points, one of which states “the
RAN is to benchmark performance
against world best practice,
adopting, as far as practicable,
the standards and processes
used in comparable civilian
circumstances and developing,
adapting or adopting the best of
international civilian and military
practice”, this is where
classification societies come into
play bringing with them merchant
shipping expertise. This is
particularly important for the
AASFEG vessels due to the lack of
a defined functional baseline, and
therefore the ability to ensure
‘design integrity’ as required by
the DI (N). Also as external
agencies, the RAN ensures the
integrity of an independent third
party verifier.
Progress of Classification within
AASPO
AASSPO is currently utilising
classification societies to bring
existing ships into class, some of
which have had no classification
society type rules applied in
either their construction or on
going maintenance. As a result,
there will be significant noncompliances
with classification
rules of which some have already
been identified. In this case, the
class society has been tasked
with assessing the risk to be
posed by the non compliance
and the decision is then passed
on to the RAN to accept the risk
or take measures to rectify the
non-compliance. In this way the
RAN moves to align with more
commercial standards and is
able to benchmark against
world’s best practice while still
maintaining overall authority in
the process.
The current status of the
classification process within the SPO
is as follows:
• WESTRALIA: built and maintained to
class with Lloyds Register
• TOBRUK: Recently issued with
Certificate of Class by Lloyds
Register.
• SUCCESS: Currently under survey
with Bureau Veritas anticipated
Certificate of Class to be issued in
July 2002
• LPAs: Currently under survey by Det
Norske Veritas anticipated
Certificates of Class to be issued by
end 2002
• LCHs: 4 are in class with Lloyds
Register, the remaining two to be in
class by end of 2002.
• Young Endeavour: Currently under
survey by Lloyds Register anticipated
Certificate of Class by October
2002.
About the Author
An Engineer who joined DMO in 1999 under
the Graduate Acquisition Trainee Engineer
program. Currently working for the Amphibious
and Afloat Support Systems Program Office
within the Major Surface Ships branch, and is
the Certification Manager for the vessels within
the SPO. She has previously worked as Project
Engineer with the RAAF Hornet Upgrade and F-
111 Simulator projects.