Annual Session of the Technical Committee of the RINA

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Today at the headquarters of RINA in Rome to coincide with the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the classification society and certification, there was the annual session of the Technical Committee, the organization expresses its technical assessment on the regulations for the classification of ships, under the chairmanship of Umberto Masucci, president of the Fund staff and Maritime Aircraft (FAMA) and Vice-President of Federation of the Sea.

Among the regulatory changes discussed by the Technical Committee set out the requirements for use on board of natural gas as fuel (Gas Fuelled Ships), the requirements for floating units for liquefying natural gas permanently moored (FLNG) and the new regulation the classification of units operating in the Caspian Sea and in similar areas.

The use of natural gas as fuel for ships is increasing as its use offers advantages such as reduction in total emissions of sulfur oxides, a significant reduction in emissions of oxides of nitrogen and a 20% reduction in emissions carbon dioxide, all at competitive prices according to the actual values and estimates of the future. Given this increasing use it is therefore necessary to provide the industry with a legal instrument to ensure that the provision and installation of equipment on board, working with such fuel having a level of integrity in terms of safety and reliability equal to that of conventional installation. The purpose of the new notation Gas Fuelled Ships is precisely to define requirements for the use of compressed or liquefied natural gas (CNG or LNG) aboard a ship as an alternative to traditional fuel.

As a well established and growing interest in the maritime industry is the use of floating units for liquefying natural gas, its storage and subsequent transfer to gas tankers for its final use in the areas of transportation, generally referred to stands FLNG (Floating LNG) and also LNG FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offshore LNG), which represent one of the areas of highest interest in the field of technical and commercial exploitation of offshore hydrocarbons. That these units offer the flexibility in their positioning makes them, in fact, is particularly attractive for their use where there is a need to eliminate the environmental impact consists of a large gas liquefaction plant land, while allowing a possible relocation areas different geographical, although characterized by similar environmental conditions. In light of this interest and to provide industry with a valid legal instrument, RINA has developed standards specifically for FLNG units, which are contained in new Chapter 5 of Part E of the "Regulations for the Classification of mobile offshore units and the MODU. The new rules covering the various aspects of the RINA to the hull structure and equipment, is part of the ship, is part of the process.With reference to the latter, RINA has developed specific criteria based on risk analysis, to address adequately the safety aspects of using the marine environment of offshore plant and equipment used in oil refineries on land.

RINA has also developed, based on the traditional requirements for vessels in maritime navigation, a regulation devoted to the classification of offshore units operating in the Caspian Sea and in similar areas in view of the fact that the increasing demand for oil has pushed oil companies to seek new fields in places hitherto unexplored due to the severe environmental conditions. These include the Caspian Sea, which is characterized by temperatures ranging from -35 ° C to +45 ° C, ice thickness up to 0.6 meters, shallow water, rich oil fields of toxic gases (especially H 2 S) and political environment of "zero discharge". Some of the offshore units operating in the region have specific characteristics and non-traditional tasks.For example, the units called IBEEV (Ice Breaking Emergency Evacuation Vessels) are designed to operate all year round (for this unit are also ice breakers) to safely evacuate the personnel working on offshore platforms in case of emergency. For the latter, RINA has designed the new notation of service: IBEEV which takes into account the main features of these units: complete isolation from the outside (the air needed for both people on board which the engine is provided with suitable tanks) , ability to navigate through fire (pool fire), resistance to overpressure caused by an explosion and ability to break the ice in shallow waters (the traditional icebreakers can not operate in shallow seas).