Class Rules & Guides

Official Russian register-released regulations for the class and other activities. The twentieth edition dated 2017 and including all amendments/additions. the book starts with the general information including application of the requirements and description of the classification and all other activities performed by the Russian Register.

Then, the content of the book includes the rules and documentation, responsibilities of the class society, confidentiality matters. The second half of the volume is devoted to the surveys, including surveys conducted in the course of the manufacture of the products and materials, surveys of vessels during construction, under conversion and re-construction, surveys on ships that are in operation, and surveys done in accordance with the requirements of the relevant international agreements and conventions.

A must-have document for the crew members and shore-side personnel of the shipping companies engaged in communication with the class surveyors and responsible for the classification side.

The Rules covering the cargo handling gear installed on board sea-going ships - here is the latest release of these Russian Register publication. The requirements contained in the Rules are considered applicable to the cargo gear of the sea-going vessels, as it is implied by the title; in addition, they are equally applicable to the cargo handling gear installed on the mobile and fixed offshore platforms and to the loose gear suspended to different gripping devices forming an integral part of the vessel.

The content of the rulebook is divided into twelve chapters. The first chapter provides general information including application of the rules, scope of the cargo gear survey, general and special requirements, documentation etc. The second chapter is devoted to the calculations associated with cargo handling gear, while the third chapter is dealing with the materials and welding.

The rest of the chapters are covering derricks, cranes and hoists of the ship, upper structures of the crane ships and floating cranes, lifts installed on the ships, elevating platforms, ropes and gears. The last three chapters are dealing with the inspections and review, including examinations and testing of the cargo gear.

These Guidelines published by Russian Register Class Society are intended to set the technical regulations for the inspection of main/auxiliary marine diesel engines for compliance with the international NOx emission standards both at the manufacturer's plant and on board the vessels.

The survey at the manufacturer's facility are dealt with in the first part of the publication, covering applicable regulations on the inspection and relevant technical documentation. The next part addresses the application of the marine D/E family or group concepts at the plant, again including the regulations on application and technical documentation involved.

Another part is dedicated to the technical supervision in the course of the engine tests that are performed at the manufacturing facility to ensure compliance of the engines with the emission limits set in the NOx Code - test conditions and fuel oil, parameters to check, exhaust gas flow determination, permissible deviations, test run and form of the test report, data evaluation and calculation of the gaseous emissions are all addressed in this part. The other three parts cover the inspections of marine diesel engines on board the ships, checks on board for compliance of the engines with the NOx Code, and surveys of the existing engines.

As implied by the title, the present Russian Register Guidelines are dealing with the provisions of MARPOL Convention. The regulations for technical supervision of the vessels have been provided in the opening chapter of the document; they are outlining the types and scopes of the surveys involved as well as documentation/certification requirements.

The second part of this publication deals primarily with the ship hull construction, shipboard equipment and marine pollution prevention arrangement with the oil pollution in mind, i.e. Annex I of the Convention - there are requirements applicable to the oil tankers, offshore installations etc. - segregated ballast and cargo tanks, COW systems, slop tanks, sludge tanks, standard discharge connection dimensions, bilge separators, oily water filtering equipment, holding tanks and pumping, piping and discharge arrangement etc. are all addressed in this part.

The next part deals with the pollution by noxious liquid substances carried in bulk, i.e. tank washing, ventilation arrangements, cargo systems, location and size underwater discharges etc., while the following two parts address sewage and garbage pollution. Finally, the last part of the publication covers the air pollution prevention equipment and associated arrangements on board - control of emissions from vessels, ozone-depleting substances, NOx and SOx, VOC, incineration of the garbage, energy efficiency etc. 

These RS Guidelines have been approved according to the established procedure and are in force since their publication. They shall be treated as a supplement to these RS Guidelines on Technical Supervision of Ships in Service. The Guidelines provide necessary information of the general technical regulations for the inspections on board MODUs and FOPs in service, i.e. classification and other activities, scope of supervision, particulars of the inspection procedures etc.

The basic survey recommendations are also there and address operational restriction, monitoring of the MODU freeboard, stability, subdivision and damage stability, assessment of the working condition, transit surveys etc. Then there are chapters addressing hull (including the requirements for the annual and special surveys, underwater survey and assessment of the technical condition) and equipment, arrangements and outfitting (steering, anchoring, mooring, boarding, towing and other arrangements), fire protection arrangements, machinery and electrical installations, refrigerating plants, lifesaving, navigational and radio equipment etc. the main document is supplemented with the lists of MODU/FOP technical documentation and items supervised by the competent bodies.

The present 2017 Guidelines are applied to the items of technical supervision of Nomenclature of the items of the RMRS supervision. They were developed in order to elaborate RS Rules for the Class Surveys of Ships in Service. The Guidelines set down the methods and procedures of inspecting the vessels along with the associated items for the purpose of assigning, confirmation and renewal of class of ships being in service in accordance with Rules and for confirming that the vessel is fully compliant with all requirements of the RS Rules.

The present Guidelines are also intended to specify the applicable requirements for the inspection of the ships in service in order to confirm that they are complying with IMO Conventions/Codes and any other National/International Regulations. It is the regulating document and is intended for the Russian Register inspectors, ship crews and owners. Virtually all requirements have been included in this official RS publication so that it can be used for all types of inspections and also used by the ship owners and crew members when preparing their ship for the inspector's visit or just ensuring the continuous compliance with all requirements set down herein. In addition, these Annexes to the present Guidelines are to be used for supplementary regulatory information.

Another useful Guide from Russian Register Class Society. The present RS Guidelines were prepared on the basis of the technical requirements outlined in the ISR, i.e. Industrial Safety Rules, along with the applicable normative requirements of the federal requirements of Russian authorities, the forms, procedures, techniques and range of the services that are rendered by RS Class in the field of tech supervision of the industrial safety of various hazardous production areas as well as their technical devices.

The Guidelines offered are the guide document for the Russian Register surveyors. This present latest edition of these Guidelines was developed based on the 2008 edition. The Guidelines are approved in full compliance with the established approval procedures and are considered in force since their publication date. The book consists of four parts, as follows - Part 1 - Organizational regulations on technical supervision; Part 2 - Hazardous production facilities and normative and technical documents stipulating industrial safety requirements; Part 3 - Basic requirements for materials/production processes that are used for manufacture of hazardous production facilities and their technical devices. Definitely recommended publication for persons dealing with the maintaining the high level of the industrial safety.

These RMRS Guidelines shall apply to the subsea pipelines as specified in 1.1.1 of the Russian Register Subsea Pipeline Rules and to the materials and products addressed thereof. The document provides general provision on technical supervision of the such pipelines, technical documentation, issue relating to the recognition of manufacturers, service suppliers and laboratories, as well as construction and operation of the subsea pipelines; it covers the steel rolled products and pipes used for the pipelines, castings and forgings, valves and flexible pipes, corrosion protection matters, welding procedures and qualification of welders, subsea pipeline routes, mobilization of pipe-laying barges or vessels involved in the activities, installation of the pipelines, laying and testing them.

The publication also includes technical recommendations of surveys of such pipelines in operation as well as to the repairs of the lines - generally, all requirements to apply during and after construction of the subsea pipelines, determination of the acceptability of steel subsea pipelines deviation from their original route, effect of the seabed soil erosion, pipe dent and surface corrosion, pitting corrosion, scores on the external surface, material laminar imperfection, cracks and crack-like defects etc.