DEVELOPMENT OF A NATO 'NAVAL SHIP CODE'

摘要

Navies strive to achieve a balance between safety and military capability, thus ensuring that peacetime activities are undertaken at an acceptable level of risk. Increasingly, the acceptable level of safety for navies is set as being equivalent to merchant ships under civil legislation. For assistance in this matter, navies are now often turning to Classification Societies. Classification Society rules and regulations for merchant ships are set within the framework of international legislation overseen by IMO, notably the SOLAS convention. These IMO conventions are not always appropriate for many naval ships as the military role demands design and operating solutions that are not entirely compatible with the philosophy underlying IMO conventions and their sometimes prescriptive solutions. Disengaging Classification Society rules from IMO conventions for application to warships creates a void which can lead to confusion, result in misinterpretation and a drop in safety standards. Recognising that there is no body equivalent to IMO for naval ships, NATO has established a Specialist Team on "Naval Ship Safety and Classification" which is charged with developing a "Naval Ship Code". The Code aims to fill the void by providing the framework for navies to gain assurance that acceptable levels of safety are achieved. In doing so, the Code will replicate the link between IMO and Classification Societies and promote improved ship design and a greater consistency and transparency of safety standards. In this paper, the authors summarise progress to date on establishing the safety framework, the goal-based methodology for rule development and the initial development of the technical chapters.