New rules for boxships
Containerships ordered after July next year will have to be built to new improved minimum standards as classification societies respond to the catastrophic structural failure of the MOL Comfort last year.
The new standards, known as unified requirements (UR), have been specifically developed for vessels over 90 metres in length.
They are the result of an IACS working group into boxship safety set up after the loss of the 8,110-teu MOL Comfort (built 2008) which dramatically sank after breaking in two in the Indian Ocean.
But containership construction standards have also been under review since the structural failure of the MSC Napoli in 2008.
These new requirements include UR S11A, which is a longitudinal strength standard for containerships, and URS34 dealing with functional requirements and load cases for direct analysis of vessels.
URs are minimum technical requirements adopted by all IACS members.
They were approved by IACS at a council meeting in London this week led by Bureau Veritas head of marine Philippe Donche-Gay.
Donche-Gay told TradeWinds that the higher standards will mean that in future it is unlikely there will be another catastrophic failure of a containership. “I am confident it will prevent another accident like the MOL Comfort,” he said.
source:www.tardewindsnews.com