On November 7-8, this year’s meeting of shipowners, the shipbuilding industry, and classification societies “TRIPARTITE 2024” took place in Shanghai.
The TRIPARTITE forum was established in 2002 to exchange information and ideas on the future development of ships’ design, construction, and operation. The cooperation of the three parties, i.e., shipbuilders, shipowners, and classification societies, aims to solve problems and meet the industry’s challenges, including those of an economic, technological, safety, and environmental protection nature.
The Forum meetings are organized by shipowners’ associations (BIMCO, ICS, INTERCARGO, and INTERTANKO), and co-hosted by Asian classification societies (KR, NK, and CCS) and Asian shipbuilding associations (KOSHIPA, SAJ, and CANSI), on a rotation basis.
This year’s TRIPARTITE was hosted by INTERTANKO and supported by China Classification Society (CCS), China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) and China Shipowners’ Association (CSA).
The talks were held in 5 thematic sessions:
- Strategic issues driving the future of what ships are operated and built,
- Technical readiness of stakeholders in achieving GHG reduction pathways (for existing ships),
- Technical readiness of stakeholders in achieving GHG reduction pathways (for new buildings and new fuels),
- Safety issues, including AI technologies in navigation safety, cybersecurity, remote surveys and inspections, use of FRP materials in ship structures, and autonomous ships (MASS),
- Environmental issues (BWM, ship recycling, underwater noise, discharge waste management issues).
During the 3rd session, a workshop was held to discuss the development of the IACS CSR (Common Structural Rules) – IACS Rec. No. 34. This recommendation, which is of significant importance for safety at sea, includes “Standard Wave Data”, which is crucial for specifying requirements for the design of ship structures, especially bulk carriers, and tankers, sailing in international waters.
On behalf of PRS as a classification society, the Forum meeting was attended by Mr. Leszek Pokora, Executive Director of PRS (Shanghai) Vessel Inspection Company Limited.
The conclusions from the meeting included the need for cooperation and the establishment of data exchange principles between shipyards, shipowners, and classification societies at the earliest stages of design, to take into account the many uncertainties that are part of the transition to decarbonization and digitalization.
Attention was drawn to the development of wind technologies, the need to gain further experience based on existing vessels using wind technology, and the usefulness of data comparisons from GHG emission reports from non-fuel solutions. It was agreed to establish a Tripartite Working Group on automated fuel consumption data collection to find solutions to obtain fit-for-purpose results.
The stakeholders also included in the conclusions from the meeting the importance of maintaining safety standards and the need for continued cooperation and transparency in the industry.
