Class Rules & Guides

The present official Guidelines have been released by Russian Register based on the Administrative instructions Nos. 1 & 2 containing applicable requirements to such the important aspects as capacity for taking evasive action, turning capacity, and also concerning the prescribed forward speed/stopping capacity/astern capacity.

They were approved in accordance with the established approval procedures and are therefore in force since January 1, 2011. The Guidelines are intended to specify the applicable requirements for manoeuvring characteristics of inland navigation ships and convoys in compliance with the requirements of the applicable Rules. Fulfillment of the present Guidelines requirements would mean that the vessel's manoeuvring characteristics may be considered compliant with the EC requirements. This book starts with some general info and application terms, followed by the scope of technical supervision and definitions used in the document.

Then there are requirements related to the capacity for taking evasive action and to the turning capacity, and requirements dealing with the speed, stopping and astern capacity; the matters concerning measuring, re cording/ registration of the data collected in the course of the tests, are also addresses along with the test evaluation results.

The present Russian Register Guidelines on the SMS Certification in Compliance with the relevant requirements outlined in the ISM Code and of the Ships in Compliance with the ISPS Code were developed and published with the final intention of this Class Society to determine the minimum applicable requirements, that must be met by the Russian Register auditors who perform the certification of the SMS of Company and Ship, along with the security system of the vessels in question.

The Flag Authorities possess the formal right to establish any additional requirements relating to the processes stated above; the implementation of these additional requirements must also be confirmed in the course of the relevant audits. These Guidelines shall primarily be used during the activities of ISM and MMS (marine management system) Auditors when performing of the Company/ship verification for their compliance with applicable requirements contained in the ISM Code as well as MMS Auditors verifying the ship's compliance with ISPS Code; the document shall also to be utilized by people designated to be responsible to duly store, maintain and periodically revise the appropriate documents, and will be helpful for an person intending to improve the knowledge of such type of certification. This RS publication may be used for supplementary info on the SMS Mark.

We are introducing the e-version of the printed Guidelines issued by RMRS (Russian Register of Shipping) and providing the applicable requirements of the BWM Convention, 2004, by IMO, intended for class inspectors, ship owners and crew members.

Provisions of this regulatory document shall apply in the course of the surveys of the vessels and the equipment on board the vessels for their compliance with all requirements of the above mentioned Convention as well as IMO resolutions considering IMO and IACS UIs. In total, there are four parts in the book, dealing with the technical Supervision, approval of BWM systems making use of the active substances, addressing the matters concerning the approval and oversight of prototype BWT Technology Programmes; Design, Equipment and Devices of Ships for BW and Sediments Management.

The present Guidelines were approved as compliant with the valid regulations and are in force. They have been developed based on the BWM Convention as well as applicable IMO procedures, taking into consideration all resolutions, amendments, unified interpretations and circulars of IACS and IMO. This document is primarily intended for class inspectors; however, it can also be used by ship crew members, ship owners, ship operators, trainers, port state control officers and any other parties involved, due to the information contained therein.

These Russian Register regulations are intended to establish the general procedure of transferring the formal right to use the SMS Mark of Compliance to the shipping companies. Such Mark is the protected sign used by the RMRS for encouragement of the shipping companies acheving significant and adequate success in the field of the safety management of their vessels.

Russian Register is the sole owner of the Mark. Scope of Application - Normative Reference Documents - Terms, Definitions and Abbreviations - Appearance, Condition and Transferring the Rights to Use the Mark - Description of the Key Factors, Recommendations on the Evaluations of these Factors - Policy and Responsibility of the Company - Personnel and Resources - Emergency Preparedness - Non-conformities and Maintenance - Documentation Required for the Efficiency Analysis of the SMS of the Shipping Company - Formal request Form for the SMS Mark - Self-Assessment Procedure of the Efficiency - SMS Excellence Model - Factors Forming the Key Areas and Weighting Coefficients - Associated RS Software and Instructions.

Definitely needful publication for those dealing with maintaining the efficiency and safety management of the company and willing to keep them on the highest level to get the SMS Mark of Compliance. May be supplementing these RS Guidelines.   

The present Annexes shall be treated as a part of the Russian Register's Guidelines on Technical Supervision of Ships in Service and are intended for classification inspectors, ship's crew members and ship owners as the guidelines to be used when on conducting inspections and testing of separate items of technical supervision, on issuance of the appropriate RS documents on inspection results, as the instruction for proper assessment of technical condition, for gauging, repairs, on determination of the composition of the vessel's equipment and outfitting.

Among the documents addressed within this paper there are procedure for in-water inspection of ships, continuous survey instructions, hull tightness test, guidelines for safe ocean towing of the ship, provision of the floating docks with anchors/anchor chains and tow lines for the purpose of single passage, evaluation of limit sea states and limit wind force based on vessel's hull strength and stability, correspondingly, model reports for lifejackets and lifebuoys, instructions for verification of nautical publications and charts, IMO MSC Circular Letters, imposing, controlling and clearing RS requirements, ship survey scheme under HSSC, surveys on vessels that carry dangerous cargo either in bulk or in packaged form, and so many others.

Here is the Supplement to Rules and Guidelines of Russian Register to the IACS Procedural Requirements, Unified Interpretations and Recommendations. Released this year, it contains all IACS PRs and UIs that have been considered compulsory for implementation, and Recommendations referred to in RS Rules and other documents issued by this classification society.

This all-in-one document will definitely be very useful for all persons dealing with maintaining the active class of the vessel, performing relating checks and inspections of the hull, machinery and equipment, preparing ship for the inspector's visit, and, generally, keeping the facility in line with all IACS requirements.

It is needless to say that this publication is critically important for the owners of the vessels classed by Russian register as the materials provided there in the book will be invaluable during preparation for the forthcoming visit of the RS inspectors; apart from the class inspections, this document is a perfect reference source since it contains so many regulatory publications inside and the requirements contained therein are very important for safe and efficient maintenance and handling of the ship.

The present Reference Book is intended, in the first place, for use by the RS specialists when assigning the class notation to ships and floating facilities. However, this book may also be used by ship owners and designers. The distinguishing marks/descriptive notations provided here in this book are given for the RS Rules dealing with the Classification/Construction of Sea-Going Ships, Rules for their equipment and the RS Load Line Rules - according to 2012 edition.

The Reference Book contains references only to the sections, chapters and paragraphs of the above stated Rules, specifying particular requirements to ships and floating facilities having relevant distinguishing marks/descriptive notations in the class notation. For other RS rules references, as a rule, are given to relevant paragraphs of Part I "Classification" only.

This official RS publication will be of particular use for classification society inspectors as well as to the ship owners and crew members having to maintain their ships in due order and also dealing with presentation of the ships to the periodical and other class surveys performed by Russian Register. We would definitely recommend adding this document to your e-bookshelf if you have to be in contact with RS.

The present standard is intended to lay down all applicable technical requirements as well as acceptance criteria to the ships, offshore installations and units. Apart from the introduction in the first part and list of references in the last part, this standard addresses the taxonomy and competence requirements.

The document covers all tasks that are performed by a DPO (standing for the Dynamic Positioning Operator) on board ships, using various DP modes and systems. The intention is to capture the DP operators' competencies that are considered to be most important vor various types of ships, activity or trade. The book provides required guidance to establish a DPO competence foundation, which will have to be supplemented with appropriate technical manuals and system details. The DP notations have been introduced, based on the DP systems/modes combinations for specific operations.

The document is to identify some minimum level of skills and knowledge for DPO who are responsible for maintaining the ship's position or keeping her in track. It can be used as a reference for defining training requirements and global competence, for familiarization of the people or assessing crew members in the role of watchkeepers, winch operators or deck responsible officers, for personnel certification etc...