A classification society is a non-governmental organization that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and offshore structures. The society will also validate that construction is according to these standards and carry out regular surveys in service to ensure compliance with the standards.

 

Responsibilities

Classification societies set technical rules, confirm that designs and calculations meet these rules, survey ships and structures during the process of construction and commissioning, and periodically survey vessels to ensure that they continue to meet the rules. Classification societies are also responsible for classing oil platforms, other offshore structures, and submarines. This survey process covers diesel engines, important shipboard pumps and other vital machinery.s

 

List of Classification Societies

Name	Abbr	Date	Head office	IACS	EMSA
Lloyd's Register of Shipping	LR	1760	London [6]	x	x
Bureau Veritas	BV	1828	Paris	x	x
Registro Italiano Navale	RINA	1861	Genoa	x	x
American Bureau of Shipping	ABS	1862	Houston	x	x
Det Norske Veritas	DNV	1864	Oslo	x	x
Germanischer Lloyd	GL	1867	Hamburg	x	x
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai	NKK	1899	Tokyo	x	x
Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (Российский морской регистр судоходства)	RS	1913	Saint Petersburg	x	x
Hellenic Register of Shipping	HR	1919	Piraeus	-	x[7]
Polish Register of Shipping	PRS	1936	Gdansk	-	x
Croatian Register of Shipping	CRS	1949	Split	-	-
China Corporation Register of Shipping	CR	1951	Taipei	-	-
China Classification Society	CCS	1956	Beijing	x	x
Korean Register of Shipping	KR	1960	Daejeon	x	x
Turk Loydu	TL	1962	Istanbul	-	-
Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia	BKI	1964	Jakarta	-	-
Saudi Arabia
Registo Internacional Naval[8]	RINAVE	1973	Lisbon	-	x [9]
Indian Register of Shipping	IRS	1975	Mumbai	x	-
International Naval Surveys Bureau	INSB	1977	Piraeus	-	-
Asia Classification Society	ACS	1980	Tehran	-	-
Brazilian Register of Shipping	RBNA	1982	Rio de Janeiro	-	-
International Register of Shipping	IROS	1993	Miami	-	-
Ships Classification Malaysia	SCM	1994	Shah Alam	-	-
Dromon Bureau of Shipping	DBS	2003	-	-	-
Iranian Classification Society	ICS	2007	Tehran	-	-

 

Global International Classification Standards:

• ABS American Bureau of Shipping
• ACS Asia Classification Society
• BKI Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia
• BV Bureau Veritas
• CCS China Classification Society
• CR China Corporation Register of Shipping
• CRS Hrvatski Registar Brodova (Croatian Register of Shipping)
• DBS Dromon Bureau of Shipping
• DNV Det Norske Veritas
• GL Germanischer Lloyd
• HRS Hellenic Register of Shipping for Greece
• ICS Iranian Classification Society
• IRS Indian Register of Shipping
• IROS International Register of Shipping
• KR Korean Register of Shipping
• LR Lloyd's Register
• NK Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK)
• PRS Polish Register of Shipping (Polski Rejestr Statków)
• RBNA Registro Brasileiro de Navios (Brazilian Register of Shipping)
• RINA Registro Italiano Navale
• RINAVE Registro Internacional Naval SA
• RS Russian Maritime Register of Shipping
• GBS Guardian Bureau of Shipping
• SCM Ships Classification (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
• TL Turk Loydu

 

Classification of Ships

All classification as per the USL code
Operational Area/s	Ship Classes
	Passenger	Non Passenger	Fishing
Seagoing for use in areas in up to and including unlimited operations	1A	2A	3A
Seagoing for use in areas up to and including offshore operations	1B	2B	3B
Seagoing for use in areas up to and including restricted offshore operations	1C	2C	3C
Sheltered waters for use in partially smooth and smooth waters only	1D	2D	3D
Sheltered waters for use in smooth waters only	1E	2E	3E
Hire & Drive only	1F	-	-

 

Engineering Qualifications        -       (Trading Ships)
	PROPULSION POWER KILOWATT RATING
OPERATIONAL AREA	Up to but less than 25Kw	250Kw and over but less than 500Kw	500Kw and over but less than 750Kw	750 and over but less than 1500Kw	1500Kw and over but less than 3000Kw
Offshore operations out to 200 n.miles	MED 2	MED 2	MED 1	Class 3 Eng. Engineer	Refer AMSA
Offshore operations out to 100 n.miles	MED 3	MED 2	MED 1	Class 3 Engineer	Refer AMSA
Within the Great Barrier Reef Region and/or Torres Strait Zones	MED 3	MED 2	MED 1	MED 1	Class 3 Engineer
Restricted offshore operations out to 50 n. miles	MED 3	MED 2	MED 1	MED 1	Class 3 Engineer
Inshore operations out to 15 n. miles (Ships up to 12m)	MED 3	MED 3	MED 2	MED 1	Class 3 Engineer
Inshore operations out to 15 n. miles (Ships up to 12m)	MED 3 or Coxswain	MED 3	MED 1	MED 1	Class 3 Engineer
Partially smooth waters (Ships over 12m)	MED 3	MED 3	MED 2	MED 1	Class 3 Engineer
Partially smooth waters (Ships up to 12m)	MED 3 or Coxswain	MED 3	MED 2	MED 1	Class 3 Engineer
Smooth waters (Ships over 12m)	MED 3	MED 3	MED 2	MED 1	Class 3 Engineers
Smooth waters (Ships up to 12m)	MED 3 or Coxswain	MED 3	MED 2	MED 1	Class 3 Engineer

 

Deck Qualifications       -        (Trading Ships)
SHIP LENGTH
OPERATIONAL AREA	Less than 12m	Less than 24m	Less than 35m	Less than 80m
Within 200 n. miles of the Coast	Master Class 5		Master Class 4	Master Class 3
Within 15 n. miles of the Coast	Coxswain and/or within the Torres Strait and/or Barrier Reef Zones	Master Class 5	Master Class 4	Master Class 4
Smooth and partially smooth water Limits	Coxswain restricted to specific area	Master Class 5 restricted to specific areas	Master Class 4 restricted to specific areas	Master Class 4 restricted to specific areas

 

Engineering Qualifications    -   (Fishing Ships)
	PROPULSION POWER KILOWATT RATING
OPERATIONAL AREA	75Kw and over but less than 300Kw	300Kw and over but less than 500Kw	500Kw and over but less than 750Kw	750 and over but less than 1500Kw	1500Kw and over: Note: for vessels over 3000Kw, holder required to have "prevention and control of shipboard fines" Schedule 7 USL Code.
Offshore operations out to 200 n. miles	MED Grade 3	MED Grade 2	MED Grade 1	Engineer Class 3	Engineer Class 3 (Refer Note)
Fishing Ship Operating Area, Regulation Schedule 10A	MED Grade 3 or Coxswain	MED Grade 2	MED Grade 1	MED Grade 1	Engineer Class 3 (Refer Note)
Restricted Offshore operation out to 50 n. miles	MED Grade 3 0r Coxswain	MED Grade 2	MED Grade 1	MED Grade 1 Note: 50 n. miles	Engineer Class 3 (Refer Note)
Inshore operations out to 15 n. miles of coast	MED Grade 3 or Coxwain	MED Grade 3	MED Grade 2	MED Grade 1	Engineer Class 3 Note:- 3000Kw restriction
Partially smooth waters	MED Grade 3 or Coxswain	MED Grade 3	MED grade 2	MED 1	Engineer Class 3 !Refer Note)
Smooth water limits	MED Grade 3 or Coxswain	MED Grade 3	MED Grade 2	MED 1	Engineer Class (Refer Note)

 

Deck Qualifications (Fishing Ships)
	SHIP LENGTH
OPERATIONAL AREA	10 - 15m	15 - 24m	24 - 35m	35 - 80m
Within 200 n. miles of the Coast	Coxswain plus restricted Radio Operator Certificate	Skipper Grade 3 (within the Great Barrier Reef or Torres Strait Zones or out to 200 n. miles whichever is the greater)	Skipper Grade 2	Skipper Grade 2
Within 15 n. miles of the Coast	Coxswain and/or within the Torres Strait and/or Barrier Reef Zones	Skipper Grade 3 and/or within the Torres Strait and/or Barrier Reef Zones	Skipper Grade 2	Skipper Grade 2
Smooth and partially smooth water limits	Coxswain restricted to specific area	Skipper Grade 3 restricted to specific area	Skipper Grade 2 restricted to specific area	Skipper Grade 2 restricted to specific area
			Skipper Grade 1: Australian Coastal and Middle-water operations, laterally along the coast & with a limit of 600. n.miles