Bureau Veritas issues rule note for diving systems

摘要

Classification society Bureau Veritas has issued a new rule note covering the classification of diving systems, NR610, which sets out requirements for the classification of professional diving systems ranging from surface-supplied systems for shallow-water diving to complex saturation systems for deep-sea diving. The rules deal with the main safety issues in diving, including human occupancy in pressurised chambers, supply and distribution of mixed breathing gas, safety of oxygen-enriched environments, fire protection, fire-fighting and means for hyperbaric evacuation of divers in case of ship abandonmen They are consistent with the IMO Code of Safety for Diving Systems and recommendations from the International Marine Contractors Association. The requirements were developed to be compatible with the IMCA recommendations. The note addresses the scheme of certification of the diving subsystems, such as diving bells, deck chambers, launch and recovery systems and self-propelled hyperbaric lifeboats, and also provides detailed requirements for the design and construction of pressure vessels for human occupancy, life support systems, including breathing gas supply, distribution and temperature controls, and communication systems. The new rules are currently being applied in a high specification dynamic positioning (DP3) newbuild DSV with integrated diving systems offering both saturation and surface-supplied diving capabilities.