Lloyd’s Register offers help with Polar Code compliance

It will be applicable to new ships from January 1st 2017 and existing ships (existing ships are exempt from structural requirements) from the first intermediate/renewal survey after January 1st 2018.
The Polar Code is different from most existing regulations because it is, in part, goal-based rather than prescriptive, notes LR, a London-based global engineering, technical and business services organisation. This means the code will describe an expected result but not how to achieve it.
Ship operators need to have a well-defined operating profile for their vessel, as the scope and applicability of the regulation is determined by this. Once the profile has been established, operators can approach the Polar Code in an informed way, and the more informed their decision-making, the better their chances of making the right choices for their business and the lower the risk of non-compliance, LR points out. It says it can assist with all aspects of compliance with the Polar Code, and clients are able to access a wealth of arctic expertise to get exactly what they need, when they need it with LR’s global team of arctic specialists in place that can advise at each step along the way to compliance.
LR has also developed an interactive toolkit that allows clients to work through the Polar Code on their own terms; additionally, guidance, templates and examples can be downloaded at www.lr.org/polarcode to help clients understand the code and meet their compliance needs.
Speaking about the technology and regulation challenges for arctic shipping at the SMM maritime trade fair in Hamburg in early September, Rob Hindley, LR’s global principal specialist for arctic technology, welcomed the new Polar Code as a well-needed baseline of international requirements for shipping in all polar regions if consistently applied.
“While summer sea ice extent in the Arctic is decreasing and encouraging more interest in the Arctic, there are still technology and regulatory challenges to overcome before the polar regions are truly opened up for shipping. Destinational shipping, for natural resource development or tourism, still dominates and is summer-season in all but a few cases. Technology still needs to develop to ensure that ships designed for these areas can be economic and competitive with their ‘open water’ counterparts.
“Although the Polar Code brings a well-needed baseline of international requirements for shipping in all polar regions, the new code, being goal-based, brings its own challenges for owners, operators and builders and needs to be applied consistently to give that safe ‘level playing field’ that is demanded by the international maritime community.”