American, Polish classification societies in joint research

American, Polish classification societies in joint research    The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Polish Register of Shipping (PRS) have announced a joint research program that will focus on ship stability in extreme wave conditions and aging bulk carriers.
   “These two major research projects neatly dovetail the strengths of both societies and are expected to result in criteria that will further improve marine safety,” said ABS President Christopher J. Wiernicki. “PRS brings a very strong technical competence and a long standing interest in ship stability.”
   “ABS has existing dynamic stability assessment programs that are state of the art, but need to be validated for their application to extreme wave conditions,” he said.
   PRS President Jan Jankowski noted there is increased interest in ship behavior in extreme wave conditions because of concern that extreme waves may be more common than previously thought.
   With respect to bulk carriers, ABS is enlisting the assistance of the Poles in an ongoing study into the cumulative, long-term effect on the structure of bulk carriers of the increasingly high loading rates at iron ore terminals.
   “We welcome this opportunity to tap into PRS’s experience with investigating age related failures of bulk carrier structures to progress this project to the next level,” Wiernicki said. “Even though there have been remarkable improvements in reducing the number and severity of bulk carrier casualties over the last 15 years, we feel this is a subject that offers opportunities for extending our understanding of the potential failure sequences.”
   Wiernicki and Jankowski said the two projects are just the first steps in what is intended to be a closer technical cooperation between the two societies.