The class society’s maritime head Tor Svensen said at a recent London presentation that the merged rules are now in draft form and should be published around July of this year ready to enter into force in January, 2016.
The platform used was the same as for the IACS Common Structural Rules, he explained. The harmonised rules will be used for vessels in service and will be calibrated against existing designs, allowing owners to adopt the old rules at the shipyard until the new designs come into play.
Under the mantra - One Rule Set- Svensen said that DNV GL had combined, modernised and improved the rules, making them more efficient and aligned and ready for upcoming developments.
He also gave an update of DNV GL saying that the class society, now the world’s largest thanks to the merger, has 13,175 vessels and mobile offshore units (MOUs) totalling 265.4 mill gt, giving DNV GL a market share of 21%.
Around 85% of the total employees were educated to a high level and the new Hamburg maritime base now employs some 4,900 people.
Addressing the current market, Svensen said that the current world of cheap oil was a ‘double edged sword’ . While cheaper oil has increased demand, it will also curb exploration. He thought that more growth would occur if the oil price remained low, but this depended on vessel ordering and geopolitical events going forward.
Svensen said that last year was decent in newbuilding terms, but he expected a 5-10% drop in newbuilding activity in 2015.
He was ‘cautiously optimistic’ on the world’s GDP growth, as well as for seaborne trade growth in the future.
Talking with owners, it was clear that they were still aiming for greater fuel efficiency and virtually nobody had abandoned the idea of slow steaming, Svensen said, despite the bunker fuel price crash.
In another move, the recent updates to the US Vessel General Permit (VGP) have brought new technical and reporting requirements for vessels operating in US waters, including the need for the preparation of a detailed annual report.
As a result, DNV GL’s has introduced a VGP verification service to help ensure compliance by providing a comprehensive review of both VGP procedures and documentation, the class society said.
The verification service consists of a review of company-wide VGP procedures, if they exist, which are usually based on VGP, or environmental best practice documentation. On board visits will confirm that the vessel’s documentation is consistent with the on board documentation required and that the vessel is operating within its environmental procedures and VGP requirements.
Once the review and any necessary corrective actions have been undertaken, DNV GL provides a verification statement indicating that as observed, the vessel’s operations and record-keeping are consistent with VGP requirements. This verification statement also contains a list of the VGP requirements and outlines how the vessel fulfils the requirements – a useful reference list for a vessel’s crew when they are demonstrating compliance during a VGP inspection, the class society said.