LNG/FPU co-operation agreement

As per Pierre Besse, Vice-President Research and Development for BV, particular strengths of the BV and RS rules can now be combined, to produce definitive guidelines which draw on the experience and expertise of both organisations. In addition, the co-operation agreement enables the societies to exchange information from the results of recent research projects, including those relating – but by no means limited - to operations in Arctic conditions.  

Under the agreement, common guidelines for LNG carriers, based on GAP analyses as well as the BV and RS rules and the IMO IGC Code, are expected to be published in first-quarter 2012. These will include the requirement for operating in Arctic areas.

Work on producing common guidelines for FPUs, meanwhile, will start in third-quarter 2011. In addition to the parameters used for the LNG guidelines, these will include feedback gained from work undertaken in connection with a project involving the Shtokman natural gas field in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea, one of the largest in the world.