A new study of all DNV-classed vessels of 6,000grt and above clearly shows the safety value of additional Class Notations.
The accident rate - collisions, groundings and contact damage - for vessels holding the "nautical" class notations NAUT-AW and NAUT-OC built since 1990 has been half that of ships without them.
Since such events account for about half of all marine accidents, this statistical difference strikingly confirms the value of operational aspects being covered by additional class notations. Their main focus here is on the "total bridge system", taking into account bridge procedures, the human operator, the technical system and the man/machine interface: all these play a major role in ensuring the safety of a vessel at sea.
DNV's proactive approach to ship operation is its new guidelines for the bridge design of offshore service vessels, forming the class notation NAUT-OSV. Developed in partnership with Norsk Hydro, Statoil and OSV operators, the aim of the guidelines is to optimise the design and layout of bridge equipment, and extent of the information to be handled by bridge personnel in different operations.
Many class notations refer to a vessel's technical aspects: in this issue of Classification News we present DNV's revised DEICE class notation, covering the installation of anti-icing equipment. The winter of 2002-03 was the coldest recorded in the Baltic Sea for the past 10 years; build-up of ice on a ship's deck and superstructure can seriously reduce its stability, and the DEICE class notation is a prompt response to the icing danger.