South Koreans Join International Naval Safety Association

[By: Korean Register]

Korean Register (KR) has been admitted to the International Naval Safety Association (INSA), to contribute to naval vessel safety and protection of the environment. There was unanimous consensus for KR’s membership at INSA’s Annual General Meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye on 13 October. KR becomes an official member on 1 January 2023.

Kim Youngsuk, Head of Korean Register’s Naval Business Center said:

“We share the visions and values of INSA and put the safety of naval vessels and environmental protection as our top priorities. As a new member of INSA, we will contribute to enhancing the Naval Ship Code with our accumulated experiences and insights.”

KR, as Korea’s sole international classification society, has specialized Korean naval vessel experience. By joining INSA, the classification society is expected to play a significant role in advancing naval vessel standardization. With the other members of INSA, KR will promote the purpose and results of the latest Naval Ship Code revision, and research the expected impact on the industry. Along with these activities, KR expects to contribute to Korean naval vessel exports with improved international credibility.

For the past 22 years, KR has been an invaluable partner to the Republic of Korea Navy and Korea Coast Guard, developing ‘Naval Ship Rules’ and ‘Standard for Design & Construction’ as well as providing integrated one-stop naval services to ensure the safety of naval vessels. The classification society has also been enhancing civilian-military cooperation.

Naval vessels are often exempted from the minimum statutory requirements for safety and environmental protection as applied to civilian ships under international law, due to their national security missions. Nevertheless, the international community realizes the importance and empathizes the necessity of safety and environmental protection.

To this end, INSA was established in 2008, with the mission to: “protect naval safety and environmental protection through the cooperative production, sustainment and application of codes for design and assurance of naval shipping.”

Currently, INSA members comprise 13 navies (United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Argentina) and 8 classification societies (LR, DNV, RINA, ABS, BV, TL, PRS, NK).

To date, INSA has developed three naval ship codes covering surface vessels, submarines and naval boats. The codes are ratified within NATO as Allied Naval Engineering Publication (ANEP).   

The three types of ship codes, NSC (Naval Ship Code, ANEP-77), NSubC (Naval Submarine Code, ANEP-102) and NBoatC (Naval Boat Code) are Goal Based Standards, applicable to surface ships, submarines, and small ships (less than 24m). Goal Based Standards are more flexible than Prescriptive Standards and allow for the swift adoption of new technologies.