Classification society

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. Please help clarify the article; suggestions may be found on the talk page. (November 2008) A classification society is a non-governmental organi ation that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and offshore structures. The society !ill also validate that construction is according to these standards and carry out regular surveys in service to ensure compliance !ith the standards. To avoid liability, they e"plicitly take no responsibility for the safety, fitness for purpose, or sea!orthiness of the ship.#$%#&%

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$ 'esponsibilities & (istory ) Flags of convenience * Today + ,ist of classification societies - .ee also / 'eferences 0 1"ternal links

[edit] Responsibilities
2lassification societies set technical rules, confirm that designs and calculations meet these rules, survey ships and structures during the process of construction and commissioning, and periodically survey vessels to ensure that they continue to meet the rules. 2lassification societies are also responsible for classing oil platforms, other offshore structures, and submarines. This survey process covers diesel engines, important shipboard pumps and other vital machinery. 2lassification surveyors inspect ships to make sure that the ship, its components and machinery are built and maintained according to the standards re3uired for their class

[edit] History
4n the second half of the $0th century, ,ondon merchants, shipo!ners, and captains often gathered at 1d!ard ,loyds5 coffee house to gossip and make deals including sharing the

risks and re!ards of individual voyages. This became kno!n as under!riting after the practice of signing one6s name to the bottom of a document pledging to make good a portion of the losses if the ship didn5t make it in return for a portion of the profits. 4t did not take long to reali e that the under!riters needed a !ay of assessing the 3uality of the ships that they !ere being asked to insure. 4n $/-7, the 'egister .ociety !as formed 8 the first classification society and !hich !ould subse3uently become ,loyd6s 'egister 8 to publish an annual register of ships. This publication attempted to classify the condition of the ship5s hull and e3uipment. At that time, an attempt !as made to classify the condition of each ship on an annual basis. The condition of the hull !as classified A, 1, 4, 9 or :, according to the state of its construction and its ad;udged continuing soundness <or lack thereof=. 13uipment !as >, ?, or @A simply, good, middling or bad. 4n time, >, ? and @ !ere replaced by $, & and ), !hich is the origin of the !ell-kno!n e"pression 6A$6, meaning 6first or highest class6. The purpose of this system !as not to assess safety, fitness for purpose or sea!orthiness of the ship. 4t !as to evaluate risk. .amuel Plimsoll pointed out the obvious do!nside of insuranceA The ability of shipowners to insure themselves against the risks they take not only with their property, but with other peoples lives, is itself the greatest threat to the safe operation of ships.#)% The first edition of the egister of !hips !as published by ,loyd6s 'egister in $/-* and !as for use in the years $/-* to $/--. @ureau Beritas <@B= !as founded in Ant!erp in $0&0, moving to Paris in $0)&. ,loyd6s 'egister reconstituted in $0)* to become 6,loyd6s 'egister of @ritish and Foreign .hipping6. Where previously surveys had been undertaken by retired sea captains, from this time surveyors started to be employed and ,loyd6s 'egister formed a >eneral 2ommittee for the running of the .ociety and for the 'ules regarding ship construction and maintenance, !hich began to be published from this time. 4n $0)*, the 'egister .ociety published the first 'ules for the survey and classification of vessels, and changed its name to ,loyds 'egister of .hipping. A full time bureaucracy of surveyors <inspectors= and support people !as put in place. .imilar developments !ere taking place in the other ma;or maritime nations. Adoption of common rules for ship construction by Cor!egian insurance societies in the late $0+7s led to the establishment of Det Corske Beritas <DCB= in $0-*. Then after '4CA !as founded in >enoa, 4taly in $0-$ under the name 'egistro 4taliano, to meet the needs of 4talian maritime operators. .i" years later >ermanischer ,loyd <>,= !as formed in $0-/ and Cippon Eai;i Eyokai <2lassCE= in $0FF. The 'ussian ?aritime 'egister of .hipping <'.= !as an early offshoot of the 'iver 'egister of $F$). As the classification profession evolved, the practice of assigning different classifications has been superseded, !ith some e"ceptions. Today a ship either meets the relevant class society5s rules or it does not. As a conse3uence it is either 6in6 or 6out6 of 6class6.

2lassification societies do not issue statements or certifications that a vessel is 6fit to sail6 or 6unfit to sail6, merely that the vessel is in compliance !ith the re3uired codes. This is in part related to legal liability of the classification society. (o!ever, each of the classification societies has developed a series of notations that may be granted to a vessel to indicate that it is in compliance !ith some additional criteria that may be either specific to that vessel type or that are in e"cess of the standard classification re3uirements. .ee 4ce class as an e"ample.

[edit] Flags of convenience

For more details on this topic, see Flag of convenience. The advent of open registers, or flags of convenience, has led to competition bet!een classification societies and to a rela"ation of their standards. The first open register !as Panama in $F$-. Fear for political instability and high and e"cessive consular fees led the president of ,iberia, William Tubman, in $F*0 to start an open register !ith the help of 1d!ard .tettinius, Gr.. The "orl# $ea%e of .tavros Ciarchos !as the first ship in that register. 4n $F-/ ,iberia passed the :nited Eingdom as the largest register. Co!adays, Panama, currently the largest register, and ,iberia have one third of the !orld fleet under their flag. Flags of convenience have lo!er standards for vessel, e3uipment, and cre! than traditional maritime countries and often have classification societies certify and inspect the vessels in their registry, instead of by their o!n shipping authority. This made it attractive for ship o!ners to change flag, !hereby the ship lost the economic link and the country of registry. With this, also the link bet!een classification society and traditional maritime country became less obvious - for instance ,loyd6s !ith the :nited Eingdom and A@. !ith the :nited .tates. This made it easier to change class and introduced a ne! phenomenon; %lass hopping. A ship o!ner that is dissatisfied !ith class can change to a different class relatively easily. This has led to more competition bet!een classes and a rela"ation of the standards. 4n Guly of $F-7, ,loyds 'egister published a ne! set of rules. Cot only !ere scantlings rela"ed, but the restrictions on tank si e !ere ;ust about eliminated. The other classification .ocieties 3uickly follo!ed suit.#*% This has led to the shipping industry losing confidence in the classification societies, and also to similar concerns by the 1uropean 2ommission.#+% To counteract %lass hopping, the 4A2. has established T92A <Transfer 9f 2lass Agreement=. 4n $F/0, a number of 1uropean countries agreed in The (ague on memorandum that agreed to audit !hether the labour conditions on board vessels !ere according the rules of the 4,9. After the &mo%o 'a#i( sank that year, it !as decided to also audit on safety and pollution. To this end, in $F0& the Paris ?emorandum of :nderstanding <Paris ?o:= !as agreed upon, establishing Port .tate 2ontrol, no!adays &* 1uropean countries and

2anada. 4n practice, this !as a reaction on the failure of the flag states - especially flags of convenience that have delegated their task to classification societies - to comply !ith their inspection duties.

[edit] Today
Today there are a number of classification societies, the largest of !hich are Det Corske Beritas, ,loyd6s 'egister, >ermanischer ,loyd, Cippon Eai;i Eyokai, '4CA and the American @ureau of .hipping. 2lassification societies employ ship surveyors, material engineers, piping engineers, mechanical engineers, chemical engineers and electrical engineers, often located at ports and office buildings around the !orld. ?arine vessels and structures are classified according to the soundness of their structure and design for the purpose of the vessel. The classification rules are designed to ensure an acceptable degree of stability, safety, environmental impact, etc. 4n particular, classification societies may be authorised to inspect ships, oil rigs, submarines, and other marine structures and issue certificates on behalf of the state under !hose flag the ships are registered. As !ell as providing classification and certification services, the larger societies also conduct research at their o!n research facilities in order to improve the effectiveness of their rules and to investigate the safety of ne! innovations in shipbuilding. There are more than +7 marine classification organi ations !orld!ide, some of !hich are listed belo!.

[edit] List of classification societies

Name ,loyd6s 'egister of .hipping @ureau Beritas 'egistro 4taliano Cavale American @ureau of .hipping Det Corske Beritas >ermanischer ,loyd Cippon Eai;i Eyokai 'ussian ?aritime 'egister of .hipping <IJKKLMKNLM OJPKNJM PQRLKSP KTUJVJUKSWX= Abbreviation Date Head office ,' @B '4CA A@. DCB >, CEE '. $/-7 ,ondon #-% $0&0 Paris $0-$ >enoa $0-& (ouston $0-* 9slo $0-/ (amburg $0FF Tokyo $F$) .aint Petersburg AC! member" Hes Hes Hes Hes Hes Hes Hes Hes

(ellenic 'egister of .hipping Polish 'egister of .hipping 2roatian 'egister of .hipping 2hina 2orporation 'egister of .hipping 2hina 2lassification .ociety Eorean 'egister of .hipping Turk ,oydu @iro Elasifikasi 4ndonesia 'egisto 4nternacional Caval#/% 4ndian 'egister of .hipping 4nternational Caval .urveys @ureau Asia 2lassification .ociety @ra ilian 'egister of .hipping 4nternational 'egister of .hipping .hips 2lassification ?alaysia 4sthmus @ureau of .hipping Dromon @ureau of .hipping 4ntermaritime 2ertification .ervices 4ranian 2lassification .ociety

(' P'. 2'. 2' 22. E' T, @E4 '4CAB1 4'. 4C.@ A2. '@CA 4'9. .2? 4@. D@. 42. 2lass 42.

$F$F Piraeus $F)- >dansk $F*F .plit $F+$ Taipei $F+- @ei;ing $F-7 Dae;eon $F-& 4stanbul $F-* Gakarta $F/) ,isbon $F/+ ?umbai $F// Piraeus $F07 Tehran $F0& 'io de Ganeiro $FF) ?iami $FF* .hah Alam $FF+ Panama &77) ,imassol &77+ Panama &77/ Tehran

Co Hes Hes Co Hes Hes Co Co Co Hes Co Co Co Co Co Co Co Co Co

[edit] !ee also

4nternational Association of 2lassification .ocieties Prestige oil spill, an incident and follo!ing la!suit that could have radically changed the role of class societies. 1uropean ?aritime .afety Agency

[edit] References
$. # !u%h a %ertifi%ate #oes not imply, an# shoul# not be %onstrue# as an e)press warranty of safety, fitness for purpose or seaworthiness of the ship. *t is an attestation only that the vessel is in %omplian%e with the stan#ar#s that have been #evelope# an# publishe# by the so%iety issuing the %lassifi%ation %ertifi%ate. 4A2., "hat are %lassifi%ation so%ieties+, p. & &. # $ut simply, the purpose of the %lassifi%ation %ertifi%ate is not to guarantee safety, but merely to permit !un#an%e to take a#vantage of the insuran%e rates available to a %lasse# vessel. The !un#an%er </ F.)7$ $7//= per >eorge 2 Pratt, 2ircuit Gudge ). # GA2E D1BACC1H <&77-=A The Tankship Trome#y, The *mpen#ing ,isasters in Tankers, 2TY Press, Tavernier, Florida, 4.@C 7-F//-*/F-7-7, p. F$$

*.

# GA2E D1BACC1H <&77-=A The Tankship Trome#y, The *mpen#ing ,isasters in Tankers, 2TY Press, Tavernier, Florida, 4.@C 7-F//-*/F-7-7, p. &$&) +. # The 'ommission shares the %on%erns often e)presse# in various se%tors of the maritime in#ustry that the performan%e of %lassifi%ation so%ieties #oes not always meet the stan#ar#s re-uire#. 29?<&777= $*& final, 'ommuni%ation from the 'ommission to the .uropean $arliament an# the 'oun%il on the !afety of the !eaborne /il Tra#e, p. $F 0owever, largely #ue to the %ommer%ial pressure e)er%ise# on the %lassifi%ation so%ieties, an# to the growing number of organisations operating in the fiel# without having suffi%ient e)pertise an# professionalism, the %onfi#en%e of the shipping %ommunity in these organisations has #e%line# in the re%ent #e%a#es. p. &) -. # ,' plans to move its head office to .outhampton in &7$$ /. # .ince &77* in @ureau Beritas

[edit] $%ternal lin&s

A@. American @ureau of .hipping A2. Asia 2lassification .ociety @E4 @iro Elasifikasi 4ndonesia @B @ureau Beritas 22. 2hina 2lassification .ociety 2' 2hina 2orporation 'egister of .hipping 2'. (rvatski 'egistar @rodova <2roatian 'egister of .hipping= D@. Dromon @ureau of .hipping DCB Det Corske Beritas >, >ermanischer ,loyd ('. (ellenic 'egister of .hipping for >reece 4@. 4sthmus @ureau of .hipping 42. 4ranian 2lassification .ociety 42. 2lass 4ntermaritime 2ertification .ervices 4'. 4ndian 'egister of .hipping 4'9. 4nternational 'egister of .hipping E' Eorean 'egister of .hipping ,' ,loyd6s 'egister CE Cippon Eai;i Eyokai <2lassCE= P'. Polish 'egister of .hipping <Polski 'e;estr .tatkZ!= '@CA 'egistro @rasileiro de Cavios <@ra ilian 'egister of .hipping= '4CA 'egistro 4taliano Cavale '4CAB1 'egistro 4nternacional Caval .A '. 'ussian ?aritime 'egister of .hipping >@. >uardian @ureau of .hipping .2? .hips 2lassification <?alaysia= .dn @hd T, Turk ,oydu

4A2. document e"plaining 2lassification societies