I was asked this question at the Offshore Vessels & Access forum earlier this month and thought I’d share the answer with you.

It is important for the designer / builder for these vessels to get the class society and flag authority at the earliest opportunity.  This means that:

• We can discuss and agree problems about the vessel design from a class perspective
• We can discuss, on behalf of the owner, with flag authorities about the application of statutory codes
• We can help the owners develop their arguments, any mitigating circumstances that can be applied, and we can go and have that discussion with the flag authority, with him there, or without him present.

As a classification society, we do sit on working groups that discuss the statutory regulations for these types of vessels.  We’ve been involved in workgroups in Germany (e.g. with the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association – VSM).  We’ve had further conversations with other flag authorities as to what statutory codes get applied to Wind Turbine Installation Vessels (WTIVs) and some of the smaller wind farm service vessels.

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