Energy Criteria News

Despite of some of the lowest fuel prices experienced in the last eight years, demand for ferry construction is at a seemingly all time high. The focus on building new ferries kicked off in early 2013 and the sustained interest is the continued result of an unleashing of pent up demand. Fleets have been aging and infrastructure needs to be built up in order to accommodate the future demand for commuter ferry travel once fuel prices return to and surpass their once familiar norms.

The EU is working toward creating a general standard for protective suits in the high-pressure water jet industry. On December 12, 2002, experts representing manufacturers and test houses from France, Germany, Sweden, and Belgium, as well an observer from the United States met in Brussels, Belgium. The host of the meeting was the Notified Body Centexbel, coordinated by Fred Foubert. The group worked towards developing a standard method of testing that could be used throughout Europe to evaluate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) used by operators in the water jet industry. There is currently no uniform standard of protection levels for the water jet industry. Three tiers of protection were discussed using energy criteria.