Rules & Classification
Technical Bulletin 2011

Bureau Veritas published in 2011 various papers relating to classification and regulatory aspects. These papers give an overview of several rule development working groups which are ongoing and detail some technical topics that are important issues of projects in which BV has been involved.

An important subject is the new Safe Return to Port rules for passenger ships. Jean Jacques Juenet has published a dedicated paper, describing the necessity to assess the capability of each individual system to remain operational after a flooding or a fire casualty. This will require new studies from the yards at a very early stage of design, and will also need from the Administration or from the Class Societies working on their behalf a new system-based approach philosophy for the assessment of the design taking into account the foreseen operational pattern of the vessel.

Q. Derbanne et al. issued a technical paper on the wave loads considered in rules for fatigue assessment. This paper gives an overview of the technical background of IACS harmonized structural rules, which are under development, justifying a new approach for considering a more rational probability level for wave loads for fatigue checks of structural details. The issues of this interesting study are expected to be an important subject of discussion for rule up-dates expected over the next few years.

A new paper on the classification of LNG FPSOs, reflecting new technical features from various FEED projects in which BV is involved, was published in 2011. The paper gives the background of BV Rules (NR542) issued in 2010 and details aspects relating to the use of risk assessment approach for classification purpose, as well as the use of risk assessment procedures for interfacing independent verification services requested by coastal states with classification.

Bureau Veritas has been actively involved in the improvement of rules for units operating in very cold environments, taking into account various ice-induced effects on the assessment of hull and propulsion. A paper published by G. de Jong presents the development of a specific set of rules covering very cold environments for tugs and various offshore support vessels. This development takes into account realistic ice data for several regions of the world, achieving a realistic balance between simplified prescriptive criteria and complex direct calculations of contact between the ice and the hull.

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