“The scope of surveys are changing with new technologies, such as exhaust gas cleaning systems and LNG fuel, in addition to the safe return to port requirement and probabilistic stability,” said Andreas Ullrich, global market leader, passenger ships and ferries at Bureau Veritas. “The reason is the combination of prescriptive requirements and goals and performance-based requirements.
“In addition, refits and conversions also affect the scope of the surveys,” he said, in the 2019 Drydocking and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.
Class surveys cover mainly hull, machinery and electric installations in addition to safety surveys, which focus on stability, fire protection, lifesaving appliances, navigation and radio equipment, training, drills and maintenance equipment.
Ullrich said that surveys are done annually with an intermediate survey between the second and third annual survey and a class renewal survey after five years.
Within the five-year period, cruise ships have to be drydocked at least two times, although the flag state administration can extend the time between drydockings up to 60 months for ships up to 15 years of age.
While new technology is forcing changes in how surveys are performed, Ullrich added that technology can also be applied in the surveys themselves, including drone inspections of large tank spaces and underwater inspections by robots.
Traditionally hull inspections have been done in drydock, but can now be done with the ship in the water, being assigned a specific class notation INWATERSURVEY.
And paper reports are becoming a thing of the past. “All required documentation, drawings and certificates are available onboard in digital form,” Ullrich said. “The same goes for survey reports. Thus, owners have more or less full access to all the survey data. Our surveyors are now ‘connected surveyors.’”
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