Germanischer Lloyd Assumes Chairmanship of Naval Ship Classification Association

Hamburg, 21 July 2005 – The Naval Ship Classification Association (NSCA) has elected Lorenz Petersen, Head of Department Naval Projects of Germanischer Lloyd, at their annual meeting in London as new chairman. NSCA is the counterpart to the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) for navies. Its objectives are the promotion of standards for safety at sea for naval vessels and the communication between class societies to NATO. The group was founded to intensify cooperation on naval issues between classification societes. The development of a Naval SOLAS regulation, that will establish a set of safety rules for naval vessels that is equivalent to the civilian safety standard, is the focus of NSCA’s work for the coming months. A draft Naval SOLAS Code is expected to be presented to NATO in spring 2006. The “International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea” (SOLAS) was developed after the sinking of the “Titanic” in 1914 to create and maintain an international set of minimum safety standards with regards to the construction, equipment and operation of ships. Established for merchant shipsfe, SOLAS does not address specific naval requirements. For this reason, a Naval SOLAS Code will be developed. The NSCA had its inception in September 1998, when the classification societies of the NATO countries met in Oslo to establish a basis for future cooperation between the class and NATO. The further development lead to the foundation of the Naval Ship Classification Association in Oslo, Norway in May 2002. NSCA’s objectives are: to promote standards of Safety at Sea, to promote measures to protect the Marine Environment, to promote and develop Inter-operability and Harmonised Standards, to undertake R&D in support of above, and to communicate the Views and Findings of the Association to NATO. Founding members are American Bureau of Shipping (USA), Bureau Veritas (France), Det Norske Veritas (Norway), Germanischer Lloyd (Germany), Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (UK) and Regristro Italiano Naval (Italy). The Portuguese classification society Registro Internacional Naval was an associated founding member. A prerequisite for membership was, amongst other things, full membership of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) and domicile in a NATO member state.

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