Minutes

Date: February 10, 2009
Time: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Location: DOT Headquarters

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE, Conf Rm #2

Washington, DC

Attendees

Rich Sonnenschein (MARAD), Ch.

Chris Bassler (NSWCCD)

Mike Bergmann (CSC, Advanced Marine Division)

Vadim Belenky (NSWCCD)

Bruce Johnson

Dave Maurer (Gryphon Technologies)

Bill Peters (USCG, CG-3PSE-2)

Tom Waters (USCG, MSC-1)

by telecom:

Chris Barry (USCG ELC)

Paul Cojeen

Christopher Kent (CSC, Advanced Marine Div.)

Old Business

1. Introductions

Rich Sonnenschein welcomed the members in attendance, and those participating via telecom. There were no corrections to the minutes from the Panel's previous meeting, held on October 29, 2008.

2. SLF-51 Recap – Bill Peters reviewed recent major SOLAS and SLF developments:

SOLAS 2009- Next SLF meeting is set for January 2010. The new subdivision and damage rules will entered into force on January 1, 2009; the first set of Explanatory Notes was approved at the by MSC in November 2008.

2008 Code of Intact Stability, was approved by MSC in December 2008, and will enter into force on July 1, 2010, with Part A criteria as mandatory requirements.

New Generation Intact Stability Criteria - An intersessional group led by Japan is developing performance-based, dynamic stability criteria (human factors will NOT be included in the initial effort), with a targeted completion date of January 2010. Vulnerability criteria, based on experimental studies, are being developed for an initially submitted eight vessels.

Guidance for the Safety of Fishing Vessels <12 m in Length, and Undecked at any Length - These voluntary standards are expected to be approved in 2010.

Passenger Ship Safety - Ongoing issues include time-dependent survival ("time to flood"), return-to-port criteria, and the need for guidelines on watertight doors normally left open.

3. Periodic Review of ASTM 1321, Guidance on Stability Tests and Deadweight Surveys

The Panel utilized the SDC Collaborative Web Site to collect member comments on this Standard, up for periodic review, submitted in July 2008. There was nothing new to report.

4. 4. Dynamic Stability Task Group (DSTG) - DSTG coordinator Chris Bassler discussed recent and future planned DSTG activities:

The DSTG led a T&R Session/Presentation during the SNAME Annual Meeting in October; the group's efforts are being spearheaded by nine technical teams.

Next DSTG meeting will generally be held at the DOT building during the afternoon of the same date as (morning) Panel SD-3 meetings.

5. Review of Stability-Related PNA Draft Revision

Dave Maurer informed the Panel that Colin Moore is making final revisions to Chapter 2 (Intact Stability), to incorporate the revised IS Code.

The status of Rob Tagg's update of Chapter 3 (Damage Stability), to reflect the SOLAS 2009 Harmonized Cargo and Passenger ship rules was not known. Also unknown was the progress of US Navy ship damage stability through the necessary internal approval process, which must be completed before any input can be forwarded to Rob Tagg. Chapter 3 will likely be published alone.

6. Stability Panel Web Site

Jane Louie continues to maintain the Stability Panel SD-3 web site (see http://legacy.sname.org/committees/design/SD-3/index.html). The upgraded SNAME web site development has made further progress. It was suggested that draft PNA chapters under Panel SD-3 review be uploaded. Action: Rich Sonnenschein to contact Jim Weingart (Panel SD-2) and others for a Web 2.0 status update.

Bill Peters mentioned that the new IS Code has been posted to the SDC's Collaborative Web Site.

7. NPRM Update

SNAME Ad Hoc Panel 13 met during the 2008 SNAME Annual Meeting in October and drafted a letter to SNAME Public Policy for an official SNAME comment; small craft are believed to be the most impacted by this item, but it was not clear that vessels would not be affected.

New Business

• Chris Barry discussed a concept, to develop introductory chapter addressing small craft stability, aimed at small craft designers. In support of this effort, a question arose as to whether it would be feasible to release a public-domain version of MARAD's in-house version of SHCP (which has not been supported in some years, and has no interface software). Rich Sonnenschein agreed to investigate.
• There was a brief discussion of articles on hand about recent events, involving a navy cruiser stranding and a passenger ferry near-casualty.

Action Items

• Dynamic Stability Task Group - All interested in participating in DSTG activities should contact Chris Bassler.
• Rich Sonnenschein will contact Rob Tagg regarding the status of PNA, Chapter 3 (Damage Stability).
• Rich Sonnenschein will contact Jim Weingart (Panel SD-2) and others, regarding the status of SNAME Web 2.0.
• Rich Sonnenschein will investigate the obstacles to releasing a public-domain version of MARAD's in-house SHCP software.
• Jane Louie will add materials to the Stability Panel web page as needed.

Adjournment / Next Meeting

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 AM; the next Stability Panel meeting is scheduled for (TBD) May 2009, at the DOT building, in Washington, DC.