International safety standards for high-performance marine vehicles – the DSC Code, HSC Codes and the WIG Craft Guidelines

Abstract

International acceptance of high-performance marine vehicles for commercial operations has been facilitated by the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) development of a series of safety standards for such craft, commencing with the Code of Safety for Dynamically Supported Craft of1977 and continuing to the present day. The author, as the Australian delegate, has led many of the IMO working and correspondence groups that have carried out much of this work, and been closely associated with the remainder. This paper provides an overview of this series of standards, including notable features of their development. It covers up to and including the 2006 amendments to the 2000 High-Speed Craft Code for relatively conventional high-speed vessels, and the WIG Craft Interim Guidelines and the associated principles and recommendations for operating personnel of such high-speed craft of the future.

Keywords:

• Safety
• statutory requirements
• International Maritime Organization (IMO)
• novel craft
• dynamically supported craft (DSC)
• high-speed craft (HSC)
• volumetric Froude number
• collision
• failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)
• wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) craft
• ekranoplane
• ship safety assessment

Additional information

Notes on contributors

R Gehling

Rob Gehling is the Principal Adviser – Technical Marine Standards with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra. In this role he has, since 1988, represented Australia on numerous forums at the International Maritime Organization in London, primarily the sub-committees on Stability, Load Lines and Fishing Vessels Safety (of which he is currently chairman), and Ship Design and Equipment. In recent years, he has also regularly attended the Maritime Safety Committee and the sub-committees on Fire Protection and Bulk Liquids and Gases.

Rob graduated in 1974 from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Engineering in Naval Architecture. He subsequently completed a Master of Business Administration (Technology Management) from Deakin University in 2000. His national and international work is wide-ranging across general ship design, equipment and safety issues, but main areas of interest include high-speed craft, wing-in-ground craft, oil tankers and floating oil production facilities, intact stability, and the effect of tonnage measurement on ship design and safety.

Rob is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, currently serving as President of the Australian Division, as well as being a member of the governing Council and its Safety Committee.