The development of common structural rules for tankers. Discussion

In late 2001 classification societies Lloyd's Register, the American Bureau of Shipping and Det Norske Veritas (LR, ABS and DNV) announced plans to standardize a wide number of mutually agreed upon initiatives covering survey and engineering. This standardization process was precipitated as a response to calls for more robust requirements as well as a Class response to calls for improvement made by governments, industry and the general public. One of the initiatives was the establishment of a joint tanker project team (JTP) to develop Common Structural Rules for Tankers so that competition on structural requirements (safety) would be eliminated. Once the common rules are finalized and in effect, they will replace the current tanker rules of LR, ABS and DNV. This paper outlines the rule development process, key technical aspects of the common rules, the impact to the design scantlings, and future maintenance of these rules.