Biennial Review - Impact of Regulations

Biennial Review - Impact of Regulations
By Joe Coburn
Introduction

Regulatory requirements creep into the design construction and operation of the research fleet in three arenas:

Material, ship design and construction;
Personnel, licensing, training qualifications and manning levels and;
Management, how the operation of the ship and fleet is conducted.

These are all established on the basis of improving safety and reducing the probability of pollution.

The regulations are applied on the basis of the ship's size, service, and a couple of options:

A ship's size for this purpose is primarily determined by the volume or "tonnage" based on either of two different "admeasurement" methods:

The "old", domestic set of rules: Values are expressed in tons of 100 cubic feet as Gross Regulatory Tons or GRT. These rules and concepts can be traced to the Magna Carta (ca 1069). They are full of exemptions and exceptions or loopholes, all of which have been incorporated into US marine practice, which has resulted in many "rule beaters. The Oceanus Class is an example, which was designed to be less than the threshold for inspection of 300 GRT primarily on the basis of many "tonnage openings". It takes the services of a specialized Naval Architect to determine GRT. GRT is still used to determine the application of a broad variety of US rules and regulations and will continue to be used in that capacity.
The new or international set of rules: Values are expressed in tons of 114 or 131 cubic feet as Gross Tons or GT. Often the term Convention Tons is used. The calculation is straightforward based on the ship's total enclosed volume. There are no loopholes and therefore no gaming of the rules is possible. These are applied in determination of applicability of rules embraced by all foreign maritime nations.

Service falls into the following categories:

Strictly domestic service: Calls in no foreign ports.
Foreign or International service: Note that the old distinction between foreign voyages (for undocumented vessels, usually registered in the state) and international voyages for documented vessels is moot for the application of international regulations by port states.

The principal optional regulatory issue is whether to have a vessel classed by a classification society, ABS or not. ABS classification adds a level of bureaucratic review, with the attendant paperwork and time, the review itself requires payment of fees, and complying with the ABS rules usually requires additional costs. Maintaining a ship "in class" involves ABS inspections and fees.

In some cases the marine underwriter may require ABS classification or offer a better rate for ships that are so classed. Additionally classification offers the prospective ship operator or owner the confidence that an independent third party review and oversight brings.

It is UNOLS policy that all UNOLS vessels be classed by ABS. If an institution finds that it feels that it cannot afford the cost of ABS classification then it should:

Find the funds to make it affordable

Reduce the scope of the planned ship to make the package affordable with classification

Or stay out of the business. UNOLS does not want to encourage marginal operators.

Regulations effecting Design and Construction:

Load line

Title 46 U. S. Code, chapter 51 applies to vessels 79 feet in length or greater. Not required for a documented vessel in domestic service and does not cross the boundary line. Has been delegated to ABS. Note the 79foot length is not length overall nor on the waterline. It is a technical definition, generally requiring the services of a naval architect to ascertain for a vessel close to the 79-foot threshold. This is the regulatory entrée for insuring basic seaworthiness. Watertight integrity, down flooding (sill height), hull strength are all part of the consideration as well as the basic freeboard, which is directly established by the "load line".

ABS Rules

In many cases ABS requirements will duplicate or supplement USCG requirements. ABS re-wrote their rules for small vessels in a new Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90 Meters (295 feet) in Length. New research vessels should be designed to meet these requirements, even if there is some reason not to class the vessel with ABS. Although the ABS Rules are written specifically for vessels on international voyages, they do include exceptions for domestic vessels in Section 5, Appendix E.

Coast Guard Inspection

Vessels greater than 300 GRT must comply with the inspection regulations. These regulations are found in Title 46 of the code of Federal Regulations, particularly in Subchapter U - Oceanographic Research Vessels. The following Subchapters also apply:

Subchapter F - Marine Engineering

Subchapter J - Electrical Engineering

Subchapter S - Stability

Subchapter W - Lifesaving Equipment

Uninspected vessels must carry certain basic safety equipment, as described in 46 CFR Subchapter C.
SOLAS: the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, of 1974 and as amended. SOLAS is the general, wide ranging se of regulations that addresses all aspects of safety at sea. It includes construction requirements, arrangement requirement, lifesaving, mechanical and electrical system, radio systems (Global Marine Distress and Safety System – GMDSS) and recently it has been expanded to include safety management systems embodied in the new International Ship Management Code.
GMDSS
Damaged Stability
MARPOL

MARPOL is the international marine pollution regulations. They include sewage holding or treatment requirements, oily waste holding or separation, and plastics disposal. These requirements are generally included in USCG regulations; however, there are some new aspects that need to be considered, specific to vessels on international voyages

The Research Vessel Safety Standards of UNOLS recommends that all UNOLS research vessels comply, inasmuch as is practicable, with the full inspection standards. There are no teeth in this recommendation.

I plan to elaborate on undeveloped the categories above.

Regulations pertaining to Personnel

Title 46 U. S. Code requires 3 section watches for vessels greater than 100 GRT. Some research vessels are currently authorized to operate with 2 section watches, although the authority for this is not clear. Note that individual OCMI (the Coast Guard's "Officer in Charge of Marine Inspection".) regional offices have considerable autonomy in interpreting and applying laws and regulations. Uninspected vessels do not have documents issued to them that set the manning requirements. Culpability or liability would most likely be assigned in the event of an accident. This law also sets the requirements for licenses and documentation.
CG Inspection: For inspected vessels, the Certificate of Inspection establishes the minimum crew requirements.
STCW: This international convention constitutes a set of training requirements and applies to any ship that might visit a foreign port. The Port State has the authority to check ships for compliance (Basically a records check.) and keep a ship from sailing if it is found to be not in compliance. The program consists of several required training courses, a renewal schedule for some of them and the requisite record keeping to prove compliance.

Management

ISM, International Safety management: This international convention will apply to Research Vessels in international or foreign service greater than 500 GT after July 2002. A management system is what is mandated, and it takes 18 months +/- to become compliant.
ISO 9002 is an optional "Quality Management" certification by the International Standards Organization. ABS is the certifying authority in the U. S. The recommendations of the report to the National Science Foundation "The Academic Research Fleet" by the Fleet Review Committee clearly require more attention to improving the quality of the fleet and operations. It is conceivable that NSF may dictate compliance with ISO 9002 as a way of complying with the recommendations of the Fleet Review Committee.

Conclusion:

The "old days" of an institution "eking by" by exploiting loopholes and cutting corners are virtually over. For new vessels and institutions entering the research vessel operations arena, planning should be based on full compliance and certification, accepting the concomitant costs and staff size.

Acknowledgement:

This discussion is based in part on the report, "Planning Considerations for a New Research Vessel" submitted by the Glosten Associates to UNOLS in November 1998. The report is available through the UNOLS office.

Larry: This almost completed. (About 2 paragraphs remain and I am waiting for feedback from you and the FIC as a whole.) It has been reviewed by people here in my office and by the author of the Glosten report: "Planning Considerations for a New Research Vessel" submitted to UNOLS in November 1988, as well as the Safety Committee of RVOC. The Glosten report is available and includes some estimates of the cost of new ships and suggestions for an approach to contracting the design and construction.