Classification Societies

Classification Societies in Maritime Law

Note: There is more information on maritime/admiralty law here.

The following is a definition of Classification Societies, produced by Tetley, in the context of admiralty law: Classification societies are institutions (often non-profit) which inspect, study and report on the seaworthiness and the general and particular condition of individual ships. They also often perform port state control inspections. Finally, they may provide surveying services to national maritime administrations by contract with the governments of those countries. They issue a certificate of “class” of the ship. The leading societies and members of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) are: American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) (website: https://www.eagle.org/; Email: abs-worldhq [at] eagle [dot] org); Bureau Veristar (BV) (website: https://www.veristar.com/; Email: veristarinfo [at] bureauveritas [dot] com (veristarinfo@ bureauveritas.com)); China Classification Society (CCS) (website: https://www.ccs.org.cn/en/index.htm; Email: ccs [at] ccs [dot] org [dot] cn); Det Norske Veritas (DNV) (website: https://www.dnv.com/; Email: iacs [at] dnv [dot] com); Germanischer Lloyd (GL) (website: https://www.gl-group.com/; Email: headoffice [at] gl-group [dot] com); Korean Register of Shipping (KR) (website: https://www.krs.co.kr/; Email: krsiacs [at] krs [dot] co [dot] kr; Lloyd’s Register website: https://www.lr.org/; Email: Lloydsreg [at] lr [dot] org); Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NK) (website: https://www.classnk.or.jp/hp/en/index.aspx; Email: mpd [at] classnk [dot] or [dot] jp); Registro Italiano Navale (RINA) (website: https://www.rina.org/; Email: info [at] rina [dot] org); and Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) (website: https://www.rs-head.spb.ru/; Email: 004 [at] rs-head [dot] spb [dot] ru). There are also two “associates”, namely, the Croatian Register of Shipping (CRS) (website: https://www.crs.hr/; Email: tech [dot] coord [at] crs [dot] hr); and the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) (website: https://www.irclass.org/; Email: ho [at] irclass [dot] org). . There are many other deemed “lesser” classification societies.

The Comité Maritime International (CMI) has attempted to bring about an international convention on the responsibility of classification societies without success so far. In 1992 the CMI set up a Joint Working Group on Class Societies (CSJWG) to consider legal rights, duties, and liabilities of classification societies. In May 1998, the CMI Assembly adopted “Principles of Conduct for Classification Societies”. These principles imposed certain duties and procedures and outlined standards of practice and performance for societies which adopt them. A year later, the CMI Assembly adopted “Model Contractual Clauses for Use in Agreements between Classification Societies and Governments and Classification Societies and Shipowners”, which define and clarify, subject to national law, the circumstances under which civil liability of the classification societies and their employees and agents should be regulated or limited. The Model Clauses are suggested for (I) inclusion in agreements between societies and governments and (II) inclusion in the rules of the societies (which contain the terms of agreements between societies and shipowners). As to the latter, the clauses impose certain duties on both the societies and shipowners. The limits of liability, however, have not yet been agreed upon. The classification societies have been in serious negotiation with European Union (EU) authorities to produce, if possible, a mutually acceptable directive on liability of classification societies. As of 2003, no agreement has been reached.

The International Safety Management Code or ISM Code (The International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention, which is Annex IX to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention 1974 as amended) obliges shipowners and ship operators to maintain a high standard of management of their ships and this has increased the extent of classification society duties and reports.

Port state control is the procedure whereby governments examine a percentage of ships, which visit their shores, in order to ensure that those ships meet international safety and environmental standards. Such examination is often conducted by classification societies under contract with the state concerned. Other states, however, have government inspection agencies which inspect visiting ships. Many states take note of the number of detentions by them of ships already inspected and classed by each classification society. For example see the tabulations of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority which carries out port state control in Australia and the Paris MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). (See Port State Control)