Certifications for Vallourec’s Oceanfit offshore grades
ABS and DNV GL certifications for Vallourec's Oceanfit offshore grades
04/11/2015 – Industry
Highest safety for the design of demanding offshore structures:
Vallourec’s Oceanfit® offshore grades have just been certified by the internationally recognized classification societies Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd (DNV GL) and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). Using certified material on the basis of a general “Grade Approval” now ensures rapid and problem-free overall acceptances by the accreditation companies. Among the first applications to use Oceanfit® grades on the new certification basis are two major jack-up rig projects currently being carried out by Samsung Heavy and DSME shipyards in South Korea.
Increased safety standards
Accreditation companies such as American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) or Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd (DNV GL) that are active worldwide in the shipping and offshore sector contribute to a continuous increase in safety standards. This also means that when making an overall acceptance, for example, for a jack-up rig, then ABS or DNV GL certification is required throughout for all the steel tubes that are installed in it. The big offshore design and engineering companies such as GustoMSC have reacted to this development and in the meantime stipulate that only ABS- or DNV GL-certified material can now be used for certain types of constructions, for safety reasons. Vallourec now belongs to the exclusive group of producers of seamless tubes who hold this certification on the basis of a general “Grade Approval”.
Tube works and steel plant certified
As part of these elaborate certification processes, not only the works producing the tubes are subjected to checks and tests but also the pre-material coming from the steel plant. In this way the “DNV GL Approvals of Manufacturer Certificates” and “ABS Approvals” that were granted as a result of the Vallourec certification processes also included the steel plants in Bous and Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann in Duisburg as well as the Vallourec works in Aulnoye and Mülheim an der Ruhr. A qualification process is under way at pilger mill in Rath and will be concluded shortly.
First references based on new certifications
These recently certified special grades have already been used on a large scale in two major jack-up rig projects at the Samsung Heavy and DSME shipyards in South Korea. In general, they can now be used in DNV GL- or ABS-classified offshore construction projects without any further special tests and thus meet the highest offshore quality and safety standards.
ABS and DNV GL certifications for Vallourec Oceanfit® offshore grades.
Certification covers the specified grades as well as the whole production cycle, including the group's steel plants and tube works
