As 2010 marks the 250th anniversary of the establishment of Lloyd's Register, it seems appropriate to review the development of technology over that period.
The fundamental purpose of Lloyd's Register has remained unchanged over its long history but the way that this purpose is discharged has progressively changed as technology and the regulatory environment have developed. This paper sets out some of the developments within key themes and describes how Lloyd's Register has responded to ensure that its classification services maintain their relevance in the pursuit of maritime safety.
In particular, the paper demonstrates how Lloyd's Register has continually updated its Rules, both in scope and content, to reflect the changing needs of the maritime industries.
Introduction
Marine technology covers a vast spectrum, and this review will focus on how Lloyd's Register has responded to the development of that technology over a quarter of a millennium, in particular in relation to the Rules, which form the basis of classification.
The paper begins with a broad description of the state of the art in the latter part of the eighteenth century, considers, with examples, how different technologies have advanced and then, after a brief comment on the impact of national and international regulations, looks at the current position and the prospects for the immediate future.
The rate of technological development became rapid during the nineteenth century when the maritime industries brought countries and continents closer together, as sail was replaced by steam and wood gave way to iron and steel.
The shipping industry moved from unreliable schedules to regular sailings. People and goods could be transported at will. Through the exploitation of advances in technology, the maritime industries have made very significant progress, which has opened up the potential for creating a global economy.
The intention is to link the development of marine technology over 250 years to the response of the classification society. The relationship with industry has certainly changed over this period as manufacturers, shipbuilders and shipowners have consolidated and evolved.
Classification, and its Rules, has also become inextricably linked to the myriad of requirements set down in the International Conventions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and regional and national legislatures.
The developments in the Rules inevitably reflect more that just changes in technology – they reflect accumulated experience from operation, from survey and from external regulations.
The starting datum
Lloyd's Register was founded existence during an interesting period of history. Britain was facing a time of social and political change at the beginning of what we now refer to as the Industrial Revolution.
As industry became more dominant, depending on trade to give access to markets, merchant shipping was moving from adventure to a commercial necessity. This brought different demands, not least a requirement for safety and protection of property and life. The reaction to loss of life in industry, and in the merchant marine, brought with it the development of responses, one of which was the development of classification.
Although at the time when Lloyd's Register was founded there was no suggestion that any means of propulsion would replace the sail, there had already been proposals for mechanical propulsion.
In 1736, Jonathan Hulls took out a patent for a steam boat powered by a Newcomen engine. In 1760, an instrument maker in Glasgow, James Watt, was starting his work which would lead to his invention of the separate condenser, which at a stroke made the steam engine a viable machine for powering ships.
Within the next 25 years, steam power had been demonstrated in France, Britain and America using paddle wheels and pump jets.
With the full benefit of hindsight, Lloyd's Register was founded at a time when the rate of development of marine technology, as we know it today, was beginning to increase. Maritime trade relied without exception on wooden sailing ships. In reality, there was little substantive difference between ships built for trade and those built for naval warfare, and the early Register Books record the armament of the merchant ships listed.
In 1759, the First Rate 100-gun Ship of the Line, which was to be named HMS 'Victory' on October 30, 1760, was ordered to be constructed at Chatham Dockyard. As the Flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy, this ship remains in commission at Portsmouth Dockyard.
The ship has had a life which is almost exactly as long as Lloyd's Register's and represents a good example of ship design and construction in 1760.
Although a large part of the original work on the scientific basis for ship design took place in continental Europe, notably in France, one of the earliest references on naval architecture, with a scientific base, was published in Sweden by an experienced shipwright who had worked in London.
Frederik Henrik af Chapman published in 1768, in Architectura Navalis Mercatoria, a set of lines plans for ships of all types, from small craft to the largest merchant ships of 160 feet in length.
By 1775, Chapman had added Tractat om Skepps-Byggeriet (A Treatise on Shipbuilding) which set out methods for dimensioning and calculating tonnage and resistance. Perhaps more importantly, Chapman referred to the need to use science "to give ships the principal good qualities, which I conceive to be:
Of these qualities one part is at variance with another: it is necessary therefore to try so to unite theory and practice so that the sum of both may be a maximum". The English translation of the Tractat was only published in 1820.
It was at around this time, in 1819, that Abraham Rees published his Cyclopaedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature.
Mr Rees published forty-four volumes, of which five were illustrations, in what was the first major publication to lay emphasis on technical innovation. Mr Rees included a major section on shipbuilding noting in his introduction that "Ship-building, or Naval Architecture, is the art of constructing and raising, or building that noble fabric called a ship."
He then went on to write: "Nevertheless, the scientific part of shipbuilding has been too much neglected; and although some years have elapsed since mathematicians (particularly in France) have laboured with some success, yet their discoveries are so much enveloped in profound calculations, that ship-builders, in general, have scarcely been able to derive any advantage from them". Mr Rees illustrated the principles of naval architecture by example, using a 74-gun ship that was in favour with the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars which had recently reached their conclusion. He described in some detail rigging, masts, ropes and machinery for block making at Portsmouth Dockyard, which had been developed by Marc Brunel.
In a maritime-related application, but in a different field of engineering, in 1759 John Smeaton had completed his Eddystone lighthouse, becoming in the process the father of civil engineering in Britain, bringing science into the practical world of engineering.
Of course, the Seven Years War was still in progress but by 1763 Britain controlled the oceans and was set to dominate maritime trade.
At the outset it appears that Lloyd's Register had no published Rules setting out the requirements to be met for the assignment of a class, recalling that in its original form classification meant just that – each ship was placed into a class which reflected its
standard of construction, its maintenance and the condition of its outfit.
The first comprehensive Rules in existence are printed in the front of the Register Book for 1834 and these extend to fourteen pages of less than A5 size. This has to form the baseline in the absence of any earlier evidence. In addition to laying out the survey requirements for both new construction and for existing ships the Rules of 1834 prescribe the scantlings for ships, by tonnage and specify the acceptable materials for construction (English, African or Live Oak or Teak of good quality). Ships' anchors and cables are described.
Interestingly, given the novelty of the technology, two pages are dedicated to ships navigated by steam, although the majority of the content actually refers to the hull construction. Owners of such ships were required to produce to the surveyors at each survey "a certificate from some competent Master Engineer" describing the state and condition of the boilers and machinery.
Key technologies
Propulsion
Although the practical application of steam as a source of mechanical power had been demonstrated on land, the transfer of the technology to ships took some time. So in the early years Lloyd's Register was exclusively concerned with ships propelled by sail. The first ship classed by Lloyd's Register to be propelled by steam, albeit retaining a full sailing capability, was the 'Woodford' which was constructed in 1818. As noted above, the Rules of 1834 include very little in terms of classification requirements for the machinery.
As the reliability and more importantly the efficiency of steam propulsion improved, steam began to displace sail, principally because its use provided the means to maintaining regular sailing schedules. The propulsion plant comprised coal-fired shell boilers of various designs, manually stoked from coal bunkers. The steam, at relatively low pressures, powered reciprocating steam engines coupled to paddle wheels or, later, screw propellers. This basic propulsion package was developed to increase unit power and to improve efficiency and reliability but it continued in use until comparatively recently in, for example, the wartime-built standard ships, including the Liberty ships.
The principal changes over this long operating history were the adoption of multiple stages of expansion and the change to oil burning. With some examples still in limited operation this maritime technology has had, so far, a life of nearly two centuries.
In the final decade of the nineteenth century, the foundations were laid for changes in maritime propulsion systems. In 1891, Herbert Ackroyd Stuart started to manufacture oil-burning compression ignition engines on an industrial scale and in 1892 Rudolf Diesel took out his patent, running his first engine one year later.
In 1894, Sir Charles Parsons launched the 'Turbinia' and demonstrated the potential of the steam turbine.
As the maritime industries moved towards the adoption of oil as a fuel in place of coal, Lloyd's Register introduced Rules for the Burning and Carriage of Liquid Fuel in 1902. These were followed up by the adoption of Rules for Petrol and Paraffin Engines in 1910 and diesel engines in 1914.
In 1914, the Transylvania became the first geared steam turbine ship: earlier steam turbine ships had a direct drive arrangement. The use of geared turbines was restricted to a few significant ships, principally ocean liners with high shaft powers. The main application was in high-powered naval ships, where the load cycle was quite different. For this reason, some merchant ships experienced problems with the gearing early in their service life while similar naval installations suffered failure later in life when used at high power for an extended period. After a relatively long period of application in merchant ships, Lloyd's Register developed Rules for gearing in 1948 and these were subsequently modified: the most recent versions are based on the International Standard, ISO 6336. The geared steam turbine propulsion system found a renewed market as the size of ships increased, particularly oil tankers and container ships, when the power required for single screw propulsion exceeded that available from slow speed diesel engines.
By the early 1980s, after a number of oil price surges, the availability of diesel engines with a unit power output of around 35MW killed the market, except for LNG ships where the availability of boil-off gas meant that steam turbine propulsion still provided an economic solution. Even this market has now moved to diesel technology.
Steam propulsion initially relied on various types of shell boilers, but the increase in power demand and the use of higher steam pressures resulted in the adoption of water tube boilers, with a consequent saving in weight. In 1922, Rules for Water Tube Boilers were adopted, much earlier in their development than was the case for gearing.
The most significant change in propulsion technology has been the adoption and development of the diesel engine. From the early beginnings, when Rudolf Diesel first ran his single cylinder engine on what would now be called biodiesel, which developed about 15kW, the largest units are now able to deliver about 100MW.
The earliest sea-going ship to be propelled by diesel power was the small oil tanker, 'Vulcanus', of 1910 and this was followed by the ocean-going cargo liner 'Selandia' in 1912.
From a thermal efficiency of around 25 percent on the early prototype engines, the diesel engine has been developed to very high levels of power and fuel efficiency. The adoption of diesel engines for propulsion was not immediately universal but in some countries the contribution was significant at an early stage. For example, in Denmark the percentage of the fleet powered by diesel engines reached 54 percent in 1939, a penetration only exceeded by Norway.
Turbocharging was introduced first on four-stroke trunk engines and in 1952 the use of turbocharging on the oil tanker, 'Dorthe Maersk', resulted in an increase in power for the six-cylinder B&W two-stroke unit from 4,120kW to 5,965kW.
Due to its inherently greater thermal efficiency, the uniflow two-stroke engine with a cylinder head exhaust valve displaced the simpler cross scavenged arrangement in the early 1980s.
The burning of heavy fuel oil was introduced in the 1930s, becoming the standard for the majority of ships. In certain applications, diesel engines have been adapted to run on town gas and more recently methane. The use of gaseous fuels required the development of new Rules to provide the requirements for safe operation of the engine and engine room safety.
Following a number of large rises in oil prices in the early 1980s, there was an interest in using wind assistance to reduce fuel consumption. A typical example from this period was the mounting of a Walker Wing Sail on the coaster 'Ashington'.
This installation proved to be short lived as the benefits did not justify the costs. Today, there is a resurgence of interest in a wide range of wind assistance technologies, including kites, "sails" of novel design and Flettner rotors (based on a concept first trialled in 1922). To meet the challenge Lloyd's Register published Rules for Sail-Assisted Ships.
At the start of the 21st Century, with the pressure on shipping to reduce its carbon emissions "new" devices such as fuel cells are being investigated. The idea of a 'gas battery' was conceived by Sir William Groves in 1839, not long after Volta had invented the dry cell.
A number of other propulsion technologies have been developed over the years, including:
The re-emergence of interest in nuclear powered propulsion is interesting, as from 1966 until their withdrawal in 1976, Lloyd's Register published Provisional Rules for Nuclear Powered Ships.
Additionally, Lloyd's Register has contributed to the development of reliable and safe marine propulsion through its response to adversity. Examples include:
Materials and hull construction
In 1760, hull construction was well established, relying on high quality wood. As noted above, eighteenth century ship design was based on experience and a notion of proportion. Ships fell into two principal categories – those described as "burdensome", which provided cheap carriage of cargo, and those designed for fast sailing.
The former continued, albeit in different materials of construction, well into the twentieth century for cargoes such as grain and guano, latterly in large steel barques. The fast ships were the first specialist ships, typified by the clipper ships carrying tea, and the fruit schooners. Further specialisation had to wait until the advent of reliable mechanical propulsion.
Iron-making was already well-established by 1760 and the wrought iron bridge at Ironbridge in Shropshire was opened in 1779. However, wrought iron was expensive and its use in ship construction was limited to fittings and specific items of outfitting. By 1830, wrought iron was more widely available at a reasonable cost and the move began to replace wood as the principal material of ship construction. In 1837, the 'Sirius' became the first iron ship constructed to the classification of Lloyd's Register.
While Brunel started to build his first large ship from wood in 1836, his second ship, 'Great Britain', launched in 1847, was constructed entirely of iron, although not classed.
Thereafter, for large ships, wrought iron was the preferred material for hull construction. Rules for Iron Ships were developed with, after an appeal, the assistance of experienced shipbuilders and published in 1854.
However, a number of shipowners who had embraced this new technology considered that Lloyd's Register did not have the expertise to class iron ships. To quote one Edward Bates of Liverpool: "Since the death of Mr Creuze, they have no surveyor in London who has any pretensions to be called a man of science".
"None but regularly educated engineers are fit to be entrusted with the building and surveying of iron ships". The Liverpool shipping community set up a separate Underwriters' Registry for Iron Vessels in 1862.The challenges of using iron and the cost of this new material resulted in the development of composite construction, with wrought iron framing and wood planking.
Often associated with the fast clipper ships, such as the 'Cutty Sark', this comparatively exotic form of construction resulted in the publication of Rules for Composite Ships in 1868. These Rules were illustrated by the future Chief Ship Surveyor, Harry Cornish, and the original drawings survive.
In terms of hull structural design, the basic technology advanced with Fairbairn publishing a paper at the Institution of Naval Architects in 1860, which considered the hull as a beam and developed a theory of the strength of iron ships. The Rules for Iron Ships were further developed and found greater acceptance by shipowners.
In 1870, the reference to specific terms in each class was withdrawn for iron ships and the use of the character 100A1 was introduced as the highest class for iron vessels, with the first ship to be awarded this being the 'Lizzie Leslie'.
Previously, classification had granted a class (originally five were available) to indicate the condition with a numeral indicating the number of years that the ship would remain in that class. By way of example, when new, the clipper ship 'Cutty Sark' was granted 16A1 in 1869, whereas the 'Thermopylae' was granted 17A1 in 1868. The adoption of 100A1 as the single standard for classification has continued since 1949.
In 1870, the formulation of the Rules for hull construction was changed fundamentally, with scantlings now to be calculated on the basis of the principal dimensions rather than the underdeck volume or tonnage.
By 1880, steel had begun to replace wrought iron in ship construction. Rules for Steel Ships were published in 1868 and for steel yachts in 1889. Changes in the arrangement of framing and stiffening occurred as designers found better ways of using materials. A major change was the move to longitudinal framing, the Isherwood system. The first ship built with longitudinal framing, the oil tanker 'Paul Paix', was constructed in 1908. Intriguingly, this ship survived being attacked by submarines twice during the First World War.
The use of steel gradually resulted in the adoption of welding to replace riveted construction. Tentative Regulations were published for electrically welded construction in 1918 and the following year the first all-welded, sea going ship, the Fullagar, was constructed.
The Tentative Regulations were progressed to full Rules by 1925, although widespread adoption of welding had to wait until after the Second World War. The experience with mass produced, welded standard ships during the war had highlighted the risks associated with brittle fracture. Lloyd's Register carried out a major review of steel properties and fracture resistance which resulted in the development of Rules for steel and for the selection of steel qualities which would reduce the risk of brittle fracture. In 1952, Provisional Rules for the Application of Welding of Aluminium Alloys in Ship Construction were published.
By 1960, Lloyd's Register was following closely the technical developments which would eventually result in major changes to the assessment of longitudinal strength. The Chief Ship Surveyor, John Murray, wrote: "In spite of the great increases in size and speed which have taken place in the last 100 years, no radical change has been made in the basic standard of strength. When the strength of the 'Great Eastern' is compared with that of the 'Queen Mary' it will be found that the difference is not great, and this continuity applies to cargo ships also."
The classical analysis of the ship based on beam theory with the hull supported on a trochoidal wave had served the industry well, but now was the time to move forward. The new approach, taking account of full-scale measurements on a variety of ships and tank testing, made use of probabilistic modelling of wave energy and the response of the hull girder to the associated loads.
From a survey perspective, Lloyd's Register has seen, especially over the last half century, fundamental changes in ship construction technologies. Apart from the use of mass production techniques for emergency war building programmes prior to the move to the current approach to ship building, ships had previously, whether of wood, iron, steel or composite construction, been built up piecemeal on the slipway.
The universal adoption of welding has encouraged the development of ship factories with major blocks pre-fabricated, pre-outfitted and coated in covered facilities, often incorporating automated cutting and welding, before moving to the construction berth for final assembly.
The approach to survey, taking account of the huge improvements in shipyard productivity, has had to be changed to ensure that classification remains relevant in terms of providing an independent assurance that the Rules have been complied with and that the ship is of the required quality of construction.
The Rules later included requirements, particularly related to yachts and smaller craft, for the use of a different form of composite materials – in this case fibre reinforced plastics, initially glass and later carbon fibre, Kevlar and other strength fibres. Later, in 2006, Provisional Rules were introduced for the use of sandwich panel construction, based on panels pre-fabricated from two metal skins bonded to a core of elastomer material.
In the course of their development, the formulation of the Rules for hull construction has moved from a series of tables of scantlings based on tonnage, then principal dimensions, to prescriptive formulae which require the designer to determine the scantlings for the particular ship arrangement. With greater reliance on the use of computers the formulae have become more complex and, more significantly, the Rules have increasingly been based on the assessment of strength by direct calculation using finite element methods. This results in the Rules, or supporting procedural documents, providing allowable limits which are used to check the acceptability of the results of calculation.
A major rewrite of the entire Rules for Ships was undertaken in 1978, which resulted in a presentation that was more suitable for computerisation, recognising the advent of desktop computers and the adoption of these in the design appraisal activities of Lloyd's Register.
At this time the Rules were published in a loose-leaf format, with periodic updates inserted by the user. After a few years this format was abandoned and replaced by the current set of individual volumes, each contained a single chapter, which are published annually.
Specific ship types
As observed previously, the specialised ship type really developed along with mechanical propulsion, and the Rules related to the requirements for different modes of employment followed. Apart from the design for speed, which focused on high value or perishable cargoes, two contrasting early forms of specialisation are worthy of mention.
Firstly, one of the earliest ships designed for the carriage of any cargo in bulk, as it is now understood, was the oil tanker 'Gluckauf' built in 1886. Before this, oils had always been carried in barrels, although there had been experimental work in fitting tanks to ships. As the use of specialised tankers increased, Lloyd's Register developed specific Rules and in 1909 Rules were published for the carriage of oil in bulk and for the construction of oil tankers.
Secondly, the earliest use of refrigeration for the carriage of perishable cargoes involved sailing ships fitted with insulation and mechanical refrigeration engines. Rules were introduced for refrigeration in 1898. The Rules for refrigeration, leading now to the assignment of the RMC class notation, remain one of a limited number of classification requirements which relate to the transport of the cargo in suitable conditions to ensure that its condition is maintained during the voyage.
The development of Rules for specific ship types, beyond cargo ships and oil tankers, followed the developments within the shipping industry. The majority of this change has occurred over the last fifty years, affecting a large number of ship types which are now a familiar part of the industry.
The transportation of liquefied natural gas was initiated in 1958, with the converted ship 'Methane Pioneer'. In 1961, Lloyd's Register published Provisional Rules for Liquefied Gas Carriers and in 1963 the first purpose built LNG carrier, 'Methane Princess', was constructed. The Rules have since been updated as the size of ships carrying liquefied gases has increased and the containment and gas handling arrangements have changed.
The Rules are closely related to the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk and are formulated so that the specific additional requirements of Lloyd's Register are shown within the text of the Code.
Simply to indicate the range of ship types for which Rules have been developed the following examples will suffice:
The last two examples above provided the impetus and the opportunity for Lloyd's Register to move towards a systems basis for its engineering Rules, replacing the focus on essential components.
These two Rule sets also make extensive use of performance-based Rules. These set out the requirements in terms of the desired outcomes rather than through prescriptive statements, which can prove restrictive if technology develops faster than the traditional prescriptive Rule revisions can be introduced.
A major revolution in cargo transportation by sea came with containerisation when, in 1969, 'Encounter Bay' became the first long range deep sea fully cellular container ship. From their origin in the general cargo ship Rules, the requirements for container ships have developed to take account of the high design speed of most container ships and, particularly for the larger ships, the effect of slamming in bow flare and stern counter regions.
The Rules have been extended to cover the stowage and securing of containers, both in fully cellular ships and where containers are carried in open holds. To promote faster port turnarounds, the design of container ships without hatch covers was promoted, with the first ship, 'Bell Pioneer', delivered to Lloyd's Register class in 1990. The Rules for hatch cover-less ships covered the requirements for dewatering holds. In 2009, Provisional Rules were issued setting out the requirements for ergonomically-designed container securing, recognising the occupational health and safety demands of working the containerised cargo.
Rules have also been developed for specialised functions which are employed on a variety of ship types. For example, the Code for Lifting Appliances in a Marine Environment provides requirements for cranes and other lifting gear used in geared container ships and bulk carriers, in addition to the highly specialised large capacity heavy lift cranes, employed on crane ships which are used to support the offshore industry.
The Code also covers hoistable car decks for vehicle carriers and ferries and mechanical lift docks. This Code was first published in 1980, but it was developed from the Code of Practice for the Construction and Survey of Ships' Cargo Handling Gear which originated in 1967.
Another example of specialised Rules which find a variety of applications are the requirements for dynamic positioning systems.
This is necessarily a summary and is intended to be illustrative of the way that the Rules have developed from a set of generally applicable requirements to specific requirements for particular ship types and a range of typical shipboard arrangements.
Computers and digital control
The impact on Lloyd's Register of the development of computer technology comes in three directions. Firstly, the computational capability has transformed the way that engineers can conduct analysis.
Secondly, the ability to store and manipulate large volumes of data has transformed the processes and practices of all organisations.
Thirdly, the application of electronic and, particularly, digital microprocessor technologies has transformed the way that engineering systems are controlled and managed in use. All three merit inclusion in this paper simply because of the magnitude of their individual contribution to marine technology.
Lloyd's Register acquired its first digital computer, an IBM 1620 with a memory of 120kB, in 1962 and progressively upgraded its mainframe infrastructure to an IBM 3081K which was commissioned in 1984.
Later updated models were installed to enhance the available computational power. Towards the end of the 20th century, the decision was reached to outsource the mainframe capability and to continue running the legacy, predominantly database, applications on third party facilities.
Meanwhile, Lloyd's Register had actively engaged computer technology using mainframes, mini-computers, workstations, desktops (initially Hewlett Packard 98 series) and then personal computers linked in networks to servers. The change in computational capacity that is available to Lloyd's Register's staff, both in terms of technical computing capability and data collection and management, has been both rapid and dramatic.
The availability of computers to engineers and naval architects allowed the adoption of more advanced, and more accurate, analysis methods. The early adoption of large mainframe computers gave Lloyd's Register a technical advantage within the industry as this capability was not widely available.
Large finite element models could be constructed using front end mini computers in the early 1980s. Desktop computers were used to carry out repetitive rule calculations, increasing the accuracy as slide rules were consigned to the desk drawer. Now, networked laptop and desktop computers provide an extraordinary computing capability, and where resource-hungry analytical tools such as CFD are employed, grid-computing can expand the computing capacity by linking individual units together.
The Register Book and the data that is held by Lloyd's Register on ships was computerised and this eventually provided the opportunity for making maritime information available to subscribers more readily than the original book format. In terms of Lloyd's Register's classification system, paper reporting was replaced by computerised systems using distributed hubs and private data links by the end of the 1980s and now the expectation is that reporting is immediate using laptops and the internet. The challenge going forward is to maintain the electronic records with the integrity that was achieved with the paper filing of the first 200 years, and to preserve the important content for future generations.
At the same time as Lloyd's Register was finding ways to make effective use of the capabilities offered by computing, as the power increased and the costs, generally, of capacity fell, Rules had to be developed for the application of digital electronics and computers in shipboard systems.
These Rules cover two essential parts – firstly the general suitability of the equipment for use in marine applications and, secondly, the capability of the equipment and any software applications to provide the necessary functionality in use. The baseline is the arrangement that is being substituted, and the digital solution must be demonstrably at least equivalent.
In 1963, recommendations were published for the use of automatic controls, as fully manually-controlled machinery became obsolescent. At that time, Lloyd's Register observed that automation and centralised control had cost benefits, in terms of reduced manning, but these came with a risk, principally in terms of the difficulty of obtaining and retaining suitably skilled personnel.
By 1968, Rules had been developed for control engineering systems, although at this stage these still encompassed pneumatic and hydraulic systems. The Rules required reversionary modes of operation for essential machinery. The Rules were written in a format that would now be described as a risk-based approach, which was a departure from the more traditional way that the Rules were formulated.
From 1970, the principal units were to be surveyed at the manufacturer's works and the format of the Rules was, in what might now be regarded as a retrograde step, changed to a more prescriptive approach. As electronics, and particularly digital electronics, found application on ships, requirements for the Type Approval of key componentents and systems were introduced requirements.
Type Approval of computers and electronic devices was required to demonstrate that standard items could withstand vibration, temperature and atmospheric conditions that are found in shipboard applications.
The Rules moved forward in 1985 to cover, specifically, programmable electronic systems; in 1986 to cover shipboard navigational equipment; and in 1989 to cover the requirements for one man bridge operation.
The advent of process control computers provided a dilemma for engineers as it was possible, and cost-effective, to use the same sensors and equipment to provide both control and safety features, which had previously been fully independent. The reliance on software for essential safety features brought with it the challenge of defining effective testing and demonstration programmes and of ensuring that the safety functions were reliable under all operating scenarios.
In 1987, requirements were developed and published for demonstrating that the necessary level of software quality was delivered for use on board ships. A risk-based approach was reintroduced for software-based systems. The relentless pace of development in control technologies resulted in four major Rule changes in the eight years to 2003.
Regulation: International and national
The development of national and international safety regulations for merchant shipping would take another paper, even though the time span is considerably shorter. However, it is useful to add some short commentary to illustrate the influence of classification on regulations and vice versa.
In 1835, Lloyd's Register introduced Rules relating to the minimum freeboard of ships, the so-called Lloyd's Rule. Some forty years later, this requirement became a mandatory part of classification for awning deck vessels and the freeboard was recorded in the Register Book. In 1876, following the agitation centred around Samuel Plimsoll, the Lloyd's Rule became a statutory requirement when it was mandated for UK-flagged merchant ships under the Merchant Shipping Act, enacted in that year. Later, under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1906, this requirement was extended to foreign flagged ships entering UK ports.
Similarly, work on watertight subdivision by Lloyd's Register and others influenced the early regulation in this area.
The development of international regulation through the IMO (although the requirements set out in the International Conventions must be enacted into national legislation to take effect) has created a different relationship between classification and the statutory regime.
For many years, the two elements developed independently.
Gradually, some of the national administrations began to delegate survey and certification tasks to classification societies and this number has continued to grow so that Lloyd's Register now has delegation to act as a Recognised Organisation from over 130 administrations. The development of a growing range of International Conventions created a number of regulatory requirements that impacted on the traditional scope of classification and Lloyd's Register has to ensure that the Rules are maintained to be fully compatible with the latest statutory instruments.
The link between classification, and the classification societies, and statutory certification became more formal with the adoption into SOLAS of a clause which, effectively, makes classification a statutory requirement. Since the Rules of Lloyd's Register also require a ship to hold the relevant statutory certification the virtuous circle is complete.
The end datum
Notwithstanding the current reversal of fortunes, the maritime industries have enjoyed considerable success through the development of marine technologies. Efficient, safe and reliable marine transportation of people and goods is taken for granted and naval power projection remains central to military doctrine.
Major ship types are specialised and designed for specific services or trades, but are still very adaptable to changes in the market. Welded steel construction predominates, except in smaller ship types, particularly in the leisure segment, where fibre reinforced composites prevail.
Although projections during the rapid growth of super-tankers suggested ships would have a deadweight capacity of around one million tonnes, the upper limit has remained around half that figure for both crude oil and dry bulk ships. Container ships, operating on the long intercontinental routes, continue to grow.
LNG ships have grown rapidly from the industry norm of around 140, 000-cubic metre capacity to 260, 000 cubic metres driven by the growth in LNG transportation, particularly from Qatar.
Growth in ship size is probably slowing as optimal values for efficiency of transport are reached and other limiting factors, not least the ability of ports to provide handling and access, dominate design decisions.
The immediate future, beyond restoring trading conditions to an acceptable level, will focus on environmental concerns and, in particular, the need for the marine industry to reduce its carbon dependence. Marine technologies will develop to provide solutions and, perhaps, some of the technologies that made a small inroad during various oil price shocks will finally find a sustained opening.
The marine industry will continue to rely on the Rules of classification societies and the development of these to define the appropriate requirements for changes in marine technology.
Concluding remarks
This paper is not intended to provide any more than a short glimpse of the changes that have taken place in marine technology over two and a half centuries. The examples that have been used are, hopefully, representative of the totality and illustrate why and how Lloyd's Register has progressed to where it is today, both in terms of how it works and what scope it covers in classification of ships. There are, of course, many other developments that could each fill at least a paper, and more probably a book, in their own right.
With the obvious exception that the term "classification" no longer indicates that ships are placed into one of a number of "classes", each representing a defined condition (although definition of condition would not satisfy a modern industry), Lloyd's Register continues, after 250 years, to provide an independent assurance of the safety of ships based on the verification of compliance with a published and recognised set of standards, the Rules. The development of the Rules to reflect the prevalent marine technology is crucial to ensuring that classification remains valued by industry and society.
One century ago, the UK still controlled over 40 percent of the world's merchant shipping. The UK shipping community naturally played a central role in technical developments and was also the obvious partner to Lloyd's Register in its own progress.
Now, with a very different ownership picture and with shipbuilding increasingly centred in Asia, Lloyd's Register works with a wide range of industry partners to prepare the Rules and classification requirements for an innovative and increasingly diverse marine industry. These principles, established 250 years ago and developed progressively since that time, remain the cornerstone of marine classification.
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of his colleagues in developing this paper and, in particular, Mrs Barbara Jones who is Lloyd's Register's Information Services Manager and who cares for our historic archive material.
Vaughan Pomeroy
Technical Director, Lloyd's Register