International classification society Bureau Veritas has joined forces
with yacht designers and builders to completely reengineer its Rules for Classification and Certification of Yachts.
The new Rules, launched today, build on Bureau Veritas' experience with high-technology vessels and materials to provide designers and builders with a safe, pragmatic, robust and rationale framework for yachts of all sizes.
Etienne Thiberge, Head the hull department of the Marine Technical Division for Bureau Veritas, says, "The explosive growth in the
mega yacht market poses enormous safety challenges. Setting up a safety framework for high tech pleasure vessels, especially those over 24m LOA but under 500 gt requires a careful balancing of technical freedom with pragmatic limits on safe outcomes. We have worked hard with experienced yards, surveyors, and operators of all types and sizes of yachts to get that pragmatic framework, and have combined it with our very detailed knowledge of the behavior of modern materials such as composites to produce a set of Rules which will allow designers to let their imaginations free while keeping the crews and passengers safe and comfortable."
The Bureau Veritas Yacht Rules cover all structural, electrical, stability and fire safety requirements for all sizes and types of pleasure vessel, and also contain cross references to Flag Sate and EU regulatory requirements. Sail or power, mono or multi-hull, commercial or not, these Rules will provide the requisite safety framework for the structure, stability, fire safety, power and electrical installation and mooring and anchoring outfit.
Says Thiberge, "We have to take account of the way yachts are pushing the technical frontiers of shipping, and they way they are used, and realise that simply adapting rules for ordinary ships is rarely sufficient. A lot of the yachts being built and conceived today are breaking new technological frontiers. Also, when in use, the owners want comfort, which means, in safety terms, how do we allow for spaces with a lot of comfortable but combustible furnishings? These new Rules combine experience with technology and provide a safe but not restricted design platform."