The FIBRESHIP and RAMSSES joint approach "towards safety of composite ships" at IMO
February 5, 2020 · Event
The FIBRESHIP and RAMSSES joint approach “Towards Safety of Composite Ships”, was presented in London (UK) during the last IMO SDC7 (Ship Design and Construction Comitee) at IMO headquarters. Both European R&D projects, RAMSSES and FIBRESHIP, share similar goals on the using of FRP (Fibre-Reinforced Polymers) in the Shipping and Shipbuilding industry but with different approaches to face the technical challenges in terms of fire safety and structural performance. The presentation was possible thanks to the actions of the Dutch delegation at IMO, proposing a lunch-presentation of the 2 projects participated by more than 12 European countries. This lunch-presentation was introduced and moderated by Arnold deBruijn (NMT – Netherlands Maritime Technology) on behalf of the Dutch delegation.
At the beginning of the presentation, the general outline was stated by Stéphane Paboeuf from Bureau Veritas, and both motivations and the current regulatory framework were described as well as the different approach developed for each project in terms of the time line.
Secondly, the FIBRESHIP project was described by Alfonso Jurado (FIBRESHIP coordinator, from TSI - TÉCNICAS Y SERVICIOS DE INGENIERÍA ), defining its main particulars and goals to enable the designing, construction and operation of large-length vessels over 500 GT fully in composites. Furthermore, the potential benefits of the use of these materials was presented as well as the main outcomes of FIBRESHIP, such as the structural designing of three vessel, the development of structural and fire performance criteria as the basis of future standards, the current market readiness of some vessels segments according to smooth scale increasing and the most significant result of the project: the FIBRESHIP demonstrator (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9S1uSPehg), consisting of a ship block of a 85m length fishing research vessel fully in composites.
Subsequently, the RAMSSES project was described by Matthias Krause (RAMSSES coordinator, from CMT - Center of Maritime Technologies) defining their motivations and goals regarding the demonstration of advance material solutions for sustainable and efficient ships, being a short-term approach based on existing rules and technology to include new lightweight materials in vessels. All the demo cases of RAMSSES were identified and it was explained the Smart Track to Approval, a strategy to obtain the certification considering stakeholders actions and several factors (technical, standards, methodologies, validations, etc.). The standard fire risk scenario developed in RAMSSES was described, specifying its accordance with FTP Code; as well as the innovation platform used for gather all the data regarding the use of FRP in the shipbuilding sector.
Last but not least, the general findings were explained stating the advantages of composites, the feasibility to build larger vessels in composites and the development of a new approach for fire division rating and a fire global approach to assess the fire risk.
This dissemination action was carried out with the objective of engaging IMO members to schedule the evaluation of MSC Circ. 1574 and potential use of composites in the next IMO SDC9 (2022) session. Considering the fact that it will be a long path to set a new regulatory framework, nevertheless, we hope that the interest of the marine stakeholders as well as the results, innovations, developments and conclusions from RAMSSES, FIBRESHIP and other projects focused on the FRP for large-length vessels can be useful for the process and the IMO Member States.
The presentation is availabe for download here: link