“Not being able to be present during the surveys has definitely been challenging. We clearly depend on a good cooperation with the shipping company and yard to be able to carry out surveys and monitoring in a satisfactory manner,” says Senior Surveyor Catho Spissøy at the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA).
He says that the cooperation with the team working on newbuildings abroad has been very good. Senior Surveyor Morten Svennungsen has overseen the day to day contact with the company and yard regarding Sefine Shipyard's newbuilding 42, Bastø Electric.
Many working hours
The remote supervision means that the number of hours has been higher than usual since the surveyors only are able to do one survey at a time using video or photos. It takes time to verify all the information.
“Our goal is to deliver a service close to the quality we deliver when we are present physically for surveys. We are not quite there yet, but with good cooperation with classification societies and delegation of the surveys that we have been unable to do remotely, we have come to what we believe is a good result,” says Spissøy.
To show the amount of extra work, Spissøy counts the e-mails for this vessel, and the result is staggering. A total of 563 e-mails and 57 GB of data for the vessel is a lot.
“I would like to thank the company, the yard and DNV GL for the good cooperation. We look forward to being able to be present on board and in the yards when it becomes possible again."
29 newbuildings in 2021
The NMA is in the final stages of a major ferry renewal process that has taken place over the last five years. In 2021, 29 newbuildings will be delivered to NOR, and the majority is ferrys with environmentally friendly technology or batteries on board.
“We have plenty of work and plenty of challenges in the passenger vessels section. It is inspiring to be a part of new technology discussions,” says Sonja E. Hillersøy, Head of the Passenger Vessels Section in the NMA.
She says that the dialogue with the industry is good, and that they often receive positive feedback. And she is looking forward to being able to travel and meet people again.
“The reason everything has been running so smoothly during the lockdown is the close customer relations we have established over the last few years,” she adds.