China’s offshore engineering standards urgently need to be improved through the concerted efforts of multiple parties.

“Due to the current imperfections in China’s domestic regulatory and standard system for marine engineering, Chinese enterprises mostly adopt U.S. standards when building offshore engineering equipment, which increases the difficulty of on-site construction and drives up construction costs. Therefore, all relevant parties within China should work together to develop and refine a comprehensive set of marine engineering standards tailored to China’s needs.” At the recent joint meeting of directors of Shanghai’s shipbuilding industry standardization offices, experts and representatives from the Shanghai Standardization Association’s Shipbuilding Professional Committee, major shipbuilding enterprises, and research institutes conducted studies and discussions on standards related to offshore engineering equipment and reached the above-mentioned consensus.

 

At the meeting, experts from the Shanghai Standards Association’s Ship Committee introduced the current developments in global offshore engineering codes and standards, and conducted an analysis of the gap between China and developed countries. It is understood that today, global offshore engineering regulations and standards can be broadly categorized into three types: prescriptive, performance-based, and hybrid. Among these, prescriptive standards provide detailed specifications for regulatory provisions or operational procedures, which operators must strictly adhere to; performance-based standards, on the other hand, specify the objectives that the industry must achieve while allowing operators to employ flexible technologies and methods to accomplish those goals. This approach creates favorable conditions for advanced technologies and methodologies to enter industrial practice, thereby encouraging the industry to develop equipment with higher safety and environmental performance. Hybrid standards represent a combination of the two approaches—adopting prescriptive requirements for critical areas while leaving room for some degree of flexibility in other areas where the industry is expected to exercise its own judgment. Experts pointed out that the current global trend in offshore engineering standards is shifting from prescriptive to performance-based or hybrid standards—that is, the proportion of performance-based provisions in the standards will gradually increase. The United Kingdom and Norway have already completed this transition, and following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill incident, the U.S. government has also committed to promoting the development of its own standards toward a hybrid model.

 

In comparison, China’s offshore engineering codes and standards system is still incomplete and urgently needs further refinement. Currently, among domestic institutions, only the China Classification Society has issued offshore engineering-related codes and standards, including four “Category I” codes, two “Category II” codes, eight “Special Systems and Equipment Codes/Guidelines,” three “Guidelines for the Construction of Innovative Facilities,” and 15 “Recommended Practices and Special Technical Guidelines.” These codes and standards fall far short of meeting the needs of enterprises when implementing offshore engineering projects. Moreover, domestic enterprises themselves lack relevant technical standards and are thus forced to rely on international standards for construction purposes. Representatives from Shanghai Shipyard Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. presented at the conference, respectively, their progress in standardization efforts during the development of drilling vessels and in the comprehensive standardization demonstration project for the JU-2000E self-elevating drilling platform. It is understood that, as representative offshore engineering projects in China, both of these projects have encountered increased construction difficulties and higher costs during implementation due to the imperfections in existing codes and standards.

 

“There are relatively few domestically applicable standards and specifications; most offshore engineering projects currently adopt U.S. standards.” In response to the shortcomings in China’s offshore engineering standards, the delegates at the meeting unanimously agreed that domestic enterprises with strong capabilities could develop technical standards based on the pressing issues encountered in ongoing offshore engineering projects. Once conditions are ripe, these standards could be elevated to enterprise-level standards, thereby playing a demonstrative and driving role in fostering innovation within China’s offshore equipment industry. At the same time, all relevant parties in China’s offshore engineering sector should strengthen cooperation, with one leading organization taking the lead and collaborating with users, construction companies, design institutes, and other stakeholders to formulate and refine China’s offshore engineering standards system. This approach would help avoid redundant research efforts, enhance work effectiveness and dissemination efficiency, and make a positive contribution to the healthy development of China’s offshore equipment industry.

 

(Editor: China Ocean Engineering Network)