Bureau Veritas has joined forces with prominent military ships designers and builders to update and complete its Rules for Classification of Naval Ships. The new rules, which build on Bureau Veritas’s experience with high-technology vessels and materials, will provide designers and builders with a safe, pragmatic, robust and rational framework for military ships of all sizes.
Yves Le Gal, head of military developments at BV’s Paris head office, says, “Naval concerns about the safety of military ship in peacetime have prompted the development of naval classification rules. This new edition, dated September 2006, benefits from experience gained during the recent new construction programmes for the French navy. These programmes include the two BPC force projection and command vessels Mistral and Tonnerre, which were successfully delivered to the French navy under BV classification at the end of 2005 / beginning of 2006; the ongoing programme for the Fremm multi-mission frigate, the design of which is presently under approval at BV; and the second PA2 aircraft carrier, for which a specific chapter of the rules has been developed.”
The new rules comprise five sections, dealing with: classification and surveys; hull design and construction; machinery, systems and electricity, fire protection; additional requirements for specific notations on frigates and aircraft carriers; and additional class notations. They cover survey requirements, class verification and construction rules for modern military ships.
Yves Le Gal says, “BV has taken into consideration the specific military requirements that a naval
combat ship must fulfil in term of redundancy, automation, fire protection and stability. These new rules combine
Bureau Veritas experience with new technology and French navy and naval yards’ experience with military applications and technical naval skills.”