ClassNK, Japan’s classification society on Tuesday said it has released the updated guidelines for gas-fuelled ships.
“With the introduction of increasingly strict environmental regulations, the industry is now turning toward the use of cleaner fuels such as LNG and more recently other low flashpoint fuels such as methanol to curb their NOx, SOx , and PM emissions,” Class NK said in a statement.
The new guidelines provide information on key design features relating to bunkering, hull structure, fire safety, and explosion prevention measures for gas-fuelled vessels.
The International Code of Safety for Ships using gases or other low-flashpoint fuels (IGF Code), scheduled to come into force on 1 January 2017, will bring a range of safety regulations with far-reaching implications for gas-fueled vessels.
Class NK said the new guidelines build on the structural requirements set out in the first version of the guidelines published in 2009, with recent technological developments including amendments to the IGF Code and discussions on safety requirements regarding the use of methanol/ethanol as fuel.
Other updates cover areas such as safety measures for vessels not originally built to use LNG as a fuel. Vessels which meet the criteria for conversion to operate as LNG fueled vessels are fixed with the LNG Ready notation in accordance with the new guidelines.