SAFEDOR (Design, Operation and Regulation for Safety), a European maritime research project co-ordinated by classification society Germanischer Lloyd to enhance safety at sea has been concluded after four years of study, culminating in a final conference at the IMO where global industry representatives will discuss its application in going forward.
A total of 53 project partners from all sectors of the maritime industry have been involved in intensive research into enhancing the safety of ships, producing frameworks for ship design risks as well as practical aspects such as systems availability, fire and navigational safety, damage survivability and rescue.
A steering committee consisting of Dr Pierre C. Sames (Germanischer Lloyd, Chairman of the SAFEDOR Steering Committee), Karl-Christian Ehrke (SAM Electronics), Rolf Skjong (Det Norske Veritas), Tom Strang (Carnival Corporation & plc), Dracos Vassalos (The Ship Stability Research Centre), Thomas Witolla (Meyer Werft) and Jeppe S. Juhl (Danish Maritime Authority), has developed an approval process for risk-based ships which is being submitted to the IMO.
Dr Pierre Sames, Chairman of the SAFEDOR Steering Committee, said: “We expect that the number of risk-based design and approval applications will continuously grow, that the application of risk-based approaches in rule-making will increase and that the linking with risk-based approaches during operation will increase.”
The European maritime industry has identified the implementation of risk-based frameworks as a key priority towards 2020. With increasingly sophisticated methods and tools supporting advanced and risk-based ship design now accessible to ship designers, all necessary elements are available for the production of innovative ships with enhanced economics and increased safety, and it is hoped that SAFEDOR will revolutionise ship design for naval architects and marine engineers.
