NEW STANDARDS FOR THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY

Countries worldwide are expanding the naval forces that protect their sovereign waters, renewing their fleets by adding new naval combat and patrol units. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is among them, and is basing its renewal on a strong foundation of regulatory and quality compliance.

To do this, the RAN is developing a comprehensive set of rules specific to naval ships. The goal is to establish standards for its entire fleet to improve risk management, assess safety and structural defects, and help ensure all vessels are fit for purpose.

COMPREHENSIVE STANDARDS

Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore was recently added to the panel of classification societies working with the RAN, thanks to our longstanding classification expertise and collaboration with Bureau Veritas CIF and Certification. Our experts immediately set about working with current and former naval officers, determining which services were needed to help ensure the safety and compliance of the entire Australian fleet.

The result was a contract to completely rewrite the framework for over 1,400 Australian Defence Force floating assets. Our experts will condense, update and redefine over 200 separate standards for naval ships and materials readiness into a single set of rules.

These will include quality and safety regulations for ship structure, machinery, control systems, electrical systems, fire safety, environmental hazards and more. The framework also covers the full supply chain for the design, construction and operations of naval ships, from materials procurement and assessment to onboard inspection and maintenance.

With a standardized quality management system for ship safety, the RAN will be able to build reliable new vessels and evaluate in-service naval ships. The first phase of the project—comprising over 600 pages of revised rules—was delivered in early November.

A bright future for naval development

To support our clients and the shipyards developing their newbuilds, Bureau Veritas has expanded our team and opened a Naval Center of Excellence in Adelaide, Australia. In collaboration with our Paris office’s digital experts, our team will also be developing an application that compiles and manages maintenance and survey information for naval vessels.

This opportunity will be the first of many where Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, CIF and Certification in Australia will work together to ensure the quality of our naval clients’ projects. We look forward to being a strategic partner for the RAN and providing comprehensive solutions to clients across the Pacific region.