RINA Expands its Coatings Expertise

ITALY-based classification society RINA is recruiting more qualified coatings inspectors as it expands its involvement in the marine coatings field following its decision to become a corporate member of NACE International, the internationally recognised premier authority on corrosion control solutions.

Andy Alderson, Director of the RINA Technical Excellence Centre in the UK, says, "Membership of NACE enables RINA's surveyors and coatings personnel to access the information and contribute to the development of the standards for which the organisation is known.

"RINA took the decision to join NACE as part of its commitment to provide world-class services and training to its customers, by working with NACE in developing and delivering an internationally recognised training programme. RINA is currently the only licensee who will be delivering the Coating Inspector Programme (CIP) II Marine course when it is released in September 2008, although other organisations are expected to follow our lead."

Alderson has recently been appointed to the NACE International Coating Inspector Programme Committee and has contributed to the development of the NACE CIP Level II (Marine) training course and certification. The IMO Performance Standard for Protective Coatings (PSPC) calls for shipyards, coating manufacturers, shipowners, and classification societies to ensure that protective coating systems in water ballast tanks are specified, qualified, applied, and inspected throughout the ship's construction. It calls for minimum qualifications, specifically identifying NACE International as an official entity to certify coating inspectors. This new course is the marine version of the current standard course specified in the IMO PSPC regulations.

RINA is also playing a very active role in STG44 - Marine Corrosion: Ships and Structures, a NACE International technical committee whose membership is drawn from all sectors of the marine coatings industry including owners, shipyards and coating manufacturers. This committee has established a working group to develop a new standard "Methods of Validating Equivalence to ISO 8502-9 on Measurement of the Levels of Soluble Salts" which will enable manufacturers of automated salt measuring meters to demonstrate compliance with PSPC requirements. RINA provides the secretary for this technical group and in two years will take over as the chair of STG44.

Alderson says, 'The demand for the CIP II Marine course is high and it will be a challenge for us, which is why we have been recruiting qualified coatings inspectors to meet this demand. RINA is also sponsoring the 4th NACE International Marine Coatings Forum in Busan at the end of October." (Reference: 07-08)

RINA SpA is the operational company of Registro Italiano Navale, founded in Genoa in 1861. It is one of the oldest and most respected classification societies in the world. RINA has over 100 offices in more than thirty countries and employs around 1,200 exclusive personnel. Through its Marine Division, RINA has a classed fleet of over 22 million GT, plus over 1,000 yachts and more than 300 special units (military ships, coast guard vessels, police and fire brigade craft). It is a world leader in passengership classification. Last year it launched a major training initiative under the banner of the RINA Training Academy.

For more information: Claudia Filippone / Press Co-ordinator / RINA / +39 010 538 5643 / [email protected]


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