A ship classification society or ship classification organisation is a non-governmental organization that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and offshore structures . Classification societies certify that the construction of a vessel complies with relevant standards and carry out regular surveys in service to ensure continuing compliance with the standards. Currently, more than 50 organizations describe their activities as including marine classification, twelve of which are members of the International Association of Classification Societies .
37-449: A classification certificate issued by a classification society recognised by the proposed ship register is required for a ship's owner to be able to register the ship and to obtain marine insurance on the ship, and may be required to be produced before a ship's entry into some ports or waterways, and may be of interest to charterers and potential buyers. To avoid liability, classification societies explicitly disclaim responsibility for
74-487: A day. Ships operated illegally, such as by pirates , or narco-submarines , are not normally registered by the operators (although a registered ship may be captured or used covertly for illegal purposes). Registro Italiano Navale RINA is a private , multinational company headquartered in Genoa , Italy . It was founded in 1861 under the name Registro Italiano Navale ( Italian Naval Register ). In 1999, following
111-580: A flag state be linked to its ships either by having an economic stake in the ownership of its ships or by providing mariners to crew the ships. To come into force, the 1986 treaty requires 40 signatories whose combined tonnage exceeds 25% of the world total. To date, only 14 countries have signed the treaty. National or closed registries typically require that a ship be owned by national interests, and at least partially crewed by its citizens. Open registries do not have such requirements; some offer on-line registration, and one guaranteed completion in less than
148-617: A majority stake, 33% to Fondo Italiano d'Investimento and other co-investors led by it, and 3,5% to RINA's management. Concurrently, on the same day, the Board of Directors of RINA S.p.A. appointed Carlo Luzzatto as the CEO and General Manager of the company, while Ugo Salerno remains in his role as the Executive Chairman. The first office outside of Italy was opened in Shanghai in 1885. Today, it has
185-440: A network of over 200 offices in 70 countries worldwide with a workforce of 5,300 people. Its head office is in Genoa . RINA provides quality assurance and certification for ship 's components and accessories, including life-saving appliances, marine pollution prevention, fire protection, navigation, radio communication equipment, deck gear, cables, rodes, and anchors . It also provides engineering consultancy services through
222-516: A registration fee. There must be a "genuine link" between a vessel and its flag state. Article 5(1) of the Geneva Convention on the High Seas of 1958, which came into effect in 1962, requires that "the state must effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying its flag." There are 63 states party to that Convention. The principle
259-569: Is a ship's flag state and determines its nationality as well as which country's laws govern its operation and the behavior of its crew. A country will specify legal requirements for registration of a ship in its domestic laws, for example, in the UK, the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 details British law on entitlement for ship registration, including qualifications, pre-conditions and the machinery for registration. Each registry has its own rules as to
296-565: Is in compliance with the required codes. This is in part related to legal liability of the classification society. However, each of the classification societies has developed a series of notations that may be granted to a vessel to indicate that it is in compliance with some additional criteria that may be either specific to that vessel type or that are in excess of the standard classification requirements. See Ice class as an example. There have always been concerns that competitive pressure might lead to falling standards – as expressed for example by
333-516: Is proof of ownership of the vessel. International law requires that every ship be registered in a country, called its flag state . A ship is subject to the law of its flag state. It is usual to say that the ship sails under the flag of the country of registration. A ship's flag state exercises regulatory control over the vessel and is required to inspect it regularly, certify the ship's equipment and crew, and issue safety and pollution prevention documents. The organization which actually registers
370-483: Is the origin of the well-known expression 'A1', meaning 'first or highest class'. The purpose of this system was not to assess safety, fitness for purpose or seaworthiness of the ship. It was to evaluate risk. Samuel Plimsoll pointed out the obvious downside of insurance: The first edition of the Register of Ships was published by Lloyd's Register in 1764 and was for use in the years 1764 to 1766. Bureau Veritas (BV)
407-654: The European Commission . To counteract class hopping, in 2009, the International Association of Classification Societies ( IACS ) implemented the Transfer of Class Agreement (TOCA), whereby no member would accept a ship that had not carried out improvements demanded by its previous class society. Currently, more than 50 organizations worldwide describe their activities as including marine classification, some of which are listed below. Twelve of these are members of
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#1732876026273444-581: The International Association of Classification Societies . The largest are DNV , the American Bureau of Shipping , Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) and Lloyd's Register . Classification societies employ naval architects , ship surveyors , material engineers , piping engineers, mechanical engineers and electrical engineers , often located at ports and office buildings around the world. Marine vessels and structures are classified according to
481-583: The Italian flag. Subsequently, a European directive came into force, which liberalized the ship classification and related activities, and led the Registro to enter for the first time a competitive market. In 1999, the Registro Italiano Navale transferred all the operational activities to a brand-new company, RINA S.p.A., of which it then became the sole shareholder, now the majority shareholder. Currently,
518-462: The RINA Consulting S.p.A. and its subsidiaries. RINA is one of the founding members of IACS and actively participates in technical, research and rule-making groups in different institutional contexts at national and international level. In December 1999 the tanker MV Erika sank off the coast of Brittany, causing a major oil spill. RINA was the certification society responsible for issuing all
555-459: The Register Society published the first Rules for the survey and classification of vessels, and changed its name to Lloyds Register of Shipping. A full-time bureaucracy of surveyors (inspectors) and support personnel was put in place. Similar developments were taking place in the other major maritime nations. The adoption of common rules for ship construction by Norwegian insurance societies in
592-513: The Registro Italiano Navale is a private non-profit organization, comparable to a foundation. In 2009, RINA Services S.p.A. was established, a company to which RINA S.p.A. transferred the authorisations and accreditations relating to classification, certification, auditing and testing services. In the following years, RINA acquired three companies operating in the consulting engineering market, D’Appolonia (2011), Centro Sviluppo Materiali (2014) and Edif Group Limited (2016). In 2017, D’Appolonia
629-432: The availability of preferred mortgages on documented vessels. Vessels that operate internationally or cross international borders are required to be registered. Some jurisdictions also require vessels that only operate in territorial waters to register on their national register, and some forbid foreign-flagged vessels from trading between ports within the country (a practice known as cabotage ). The country of registration
666-408: The classification profession evolved, the practice of assigning different classifications has been superseded, with some exceptions. Today a ship either meets the relevant class society's rules or it does not. As a consequence, it is either 'in' or 'out' of 'class'. Classification societies do not issue statements or certifications that a vessel is 'fit to sail' or 'unfit to sail', merely that the vessel
703-410: The condition of the ship's hull and equipment. At that time, an attempt was made to classify the condition of each ship on an annual basis. The condition of the hull was classified A, E, I, O or U, according to the state of its construction and its adjudged continuing soundness (or lack thereof). Equipment was G, M, or B: simply, good, middling or bad. In time, G, M and B were replaced by 1, 2 and 3, which
740-420: The enforcement of a 1994 European Council directive regarding the inspection, survey and certification of ships that liberalized the ship classification market, the Registro Italiano Navale transferred all operational activities to RINA S.p.A., making it the sole, and later, majority shareholder. Until 1999, RINA worked almost exclusively as a ship classification company. It has since included operations in
777-420: The following sectors: Energy and Mobility, Marine, Certification, Industry and Real Estate and Infrastructure. The company has also expanded its services in the fields of testing, inspection and certification and engineering consultancy. RINA was founded as operational company RINA S.p.A. by Registro Italiano Navale, a private body founded in Genoa in 1861, to resolve a number of economic concerns involved in
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#1732876026273814-431: The larger societies also conduct research at their own research facilities in order to improve the effectiveness of their rules and to investigate the safety of new innovations in shipbuilding. Ship registration Ship registration is the process by which a ship is documented and given the nationality of the country to which the ship has been documented. The nationality allows a ship to travel internationally as it
851-519: The late 1850s led to the establishment of Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in 1864. RINA was founded in Genoa, Italy in 1861 under the name Registro Italiano Navale , to meet the needs of Italian maritime operators. Germanischer Lloyd (GL) was formed in 1867 and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) in 1899. The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) was an early offshoot of the River Register of 1913. As
888-599: The maritime transport sector. It is the third-oldest ship classification register in the world, after the English Lloyd’s Register (1760) and the French Bureau Veritas (1828). It is also a founding member of the IACS , a non-governmental organization that currently consists of twelve member marine classification societies. In its first 140 years, the Registro Italiano Navale operated as a monopoly on ships flying
925-482: The only classification society to do so. Classification surveyors inspect ships to make sure that the ship, its components and machinery are built and maintained according to the standards required for their class. In the second half of the 18th century, London merchants, shipowners, and captains often gathered at Edward Lloyd's coffee house to gossip and make deals including sharing the risks and rewards of individual voyages. This became known as underwriting after
962-538: The practice of signing one's name to the bottom of a document pledging to make good a portion of the losses if the ship didn't make it in return for a portion of the profits. It did not take long to realize that the underwriters needed a way of assessing the quality of the ships that they were being asked to insure. In 1760, the Register Society was formed — the first classification society and the one which would subsequently become Lloyd's Register — to publish an annual register of ships. This publication attempted to classify
999-484: The process of construction and commissioning, and periodically survey vessels to ensure that they continue to meet the rules. Classification societies are also responsible for classing oil platforms , other offshore structures, and submarines . This survey process covers diesel engines, important shipboard pumps and other vital machinery. Since the 1950s, the USSR (now Russian) Register of Shipping has classified nuclear ships,
1036-456: The safety certificates for Erika. The case came to trial in 2007 and Total, which chartered the oil tanker, was eventually found guilty and ordered to pay a fine of 375,000 € and a compensation to the civil parties of 200 M €. In December 2012 the garment factory Ali Enterprises in Karachi burned down causing 289 victims. The Company was certified in the weeks before this incident by RINA with
1073-662: The safety, fitness for purpose, or seaworthiness of the ship, but is a verification only that the vessel is in compliance with the classification standards of the society issuing the classification certificate. Classification societies also issue International Load Line Certificates in accordance with the legislation of participating states giving effect to the International Convention on Load Lines (CLL 66/88). Classification societies set technical rules based on experience and research, confirm that designs and calculations meet these rules, survey ships and structures during
1110-483: The seas has been important. Originally meant to control ships carrying cargo in European seafaring countries, it was used to make sure ships were being built in the local country, with crews predominantly of the local country. Since then, ship registration has been used to document ships for ownership. Documentation provides definite evidence of nationality for international purposes and provides financing opportunities with
1147-574: The ship is known as its registry. Registries may be governmental or private agencies. In some cases, such as the United States' Alternative Compliance Program, the registry can assign a third party to administer inspections. A register that is open only to ships of its own nation is known as a traditional or national register . Registers that are open to foreign-owned ships are known as open registries and are sometimes called flags of convenience . Ship registration has been done since business on
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1184-440: The soundness of their structure and design for the purpose of the vessel. The classification rules are designed to ensure an acceptable degree of stability, safety, environmental impact, etc. In particular, classification societies may be authorised to inspect ships, oil rigs, submarines, and other marine structures and issue certificates on behalf of the flag state . As well as providing classification and certification services,
1221-466: The types of vessels that it will accept for registration. The Liberian Registry, for example, registers seagoing vessels of more than 500 net tons that conduct foreign trade. Vessels over the age of 20 require a waiver as well as the vessel's classification society being willing to issue statutory certificates to the vessel. Vessels 15 years or older must have a Status Report of the vessel's Special Survey to be reviewed by Marine Safety. Registries charge
1258-441: The whole Group, are Registro Italiano Navale, with a large majority share (70%), Naus S.p.A. (27%) and RINA management (3%). On June 1, 2002, Ugo Salerno was appointed Chief Executive Officer of RINA; since 2012, he has also held the position of Chairman. On 13 December 2023, Fondo Italiano d'Investimento SGR officially entered into the shareholder structure of RINA S.p.A. The new share distribution gives Registro Italiano Navale
1295-623: Was founded in Antwerp in 1828, moving to Paris in 1832. Lloyd's Register reconstituted in 1834 to become 'Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping'. Where previously surveys had been undertaken by retired sea captains, from this time surveyors started to be employed and Lloyd's Register formed a General Committee for the running of the Society and for the Rules regarding ship construction and maintenance, which began to be published from this time. In 1834,
1332-422: Was rebranded as RINA Consulting. The group is headed by RINA S.p.A., which acts as the holding company and no longer carries out operational activities, but provides the group with administrative, organisational and financial services. As parent company, RINA S.p.A. also controls the two main sub-holdings RINA Services S.p.A. and RINA Consulting S.p.A. Until 2023 the shareholders of RINA S.p.A. and therefore of
1369-710: Was repeated in Article 91 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 (UNCLOS), which came into effect in 1994. That Convention has 167 parties. In 1986, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development attempted to solidify the genuine link concept in the United Nations Convention on Conditions for Registration of Ships . The Convention on Conditions for Registration of Ships would require that
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