RMRS: a new technical surveillance scheme in industry

RS rules: a new technical surveillance scheme in industry

The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping has changed the mechanism for approving marine materials, products and equipment and issuing relevant documents to enterprises.

Improvements are due to the emergence of new technologies of production processes and allow to optimize the interaction with RS, as well as reduce the capital costs of the shipowner associated with the classification of the vessel in construction. The changes come into force on December 1, 2019.

The measures are developed on the basis of analysis of data received from shipowners, shipbuilding enterprises and their suppliers, as well as best practices for the international approval of shipboard equipment.

Materials, products and equipment used in the construction of ships and floating structures must comply with the requirements of the classification society, international conventions, maritime administrations of flag states, and recommendations of the International Maritime Organization.

The technical supervision procedure in force in the industry has not changed since the 90s. Taking into account the situation in modern production, RS divided all types of marine equipment, materials, products subject to examination into five groups, depending on their criticality with regard to safety. There are changes in the form of interaction with RS depending on the group of technical supervision and production volumes of the enterprise.

The main thing in the new procedure is the transfer of technical supervision for a number of groups directly to the manufacturer’s quality control service, while the delivery of products is allowed with a manufacturer’s declaration or with a certificate issued by the manufacturer, for which the company must receive type approval for the main product sample and undergo a general audit of RS, and in some cases, pass an audit of production processes.

All this reduces the costs associated with the participation of the RS inspector in the inspection of products and the transfer of documents in hard copy, as well as the time for their execution. The number of facilities that require direct technical supervision by the RS inspector at the manufacturer is actually reduced by 72%, the total volume of surveys - by 32%.

Since July 2018, the new circuit was tested on radio navigation equipment, while the RS received positive feedback from customers.

“The specialists of the Register did a great job to update the requirements for the survey of ship equipment. While maintaining a commitment to high safety standards, RS takes into account in its documents the current level of technology development and industry needs for new approaches to the inspection of production processes, ”said Konstantin Palnikov, Director General of RS.

Groups of objects of technical supervision in the RS industry from 12/01/2019

5th group:  products, equipment manufactured in unit volumes for a particular vessel are subject to direct examination by the Register.

Group 4:  mass-produced complex products, equipment of responsible designation or high power are subject to type approval on the basis of technical documentation and

- direct inspection of serial production by the Register or

- extended survey of the enterprise for delivery with a certificate certified by the RS.

Group 3:  mass-produced products, equipment, as well as complex products that are not responsible equipment, are subject to type approval and

- direct inspection of products by the Register or

- an extended survey of the enterprise for delivery with a declaration of conformity; or

- examination of the enterprise quality control system for delivery with a certificate certified by the RS.

Group 2:  components of other products, as well as finished products for which there are technical requirements of RS, are subject to type approval, are delivered with a declaration of conformity.

Group 1:  product components manufactured in accordance with industry standards are subject to RS control on the basis of consideration of test reports made by the manufacturer or an independent party. Delivered with a manufacturer's document, drawn up in accordance with the standards of the enterprise