Bureau Veritas cuts time needed for CAP report

Classification society Bureau Veritas has cut the reporting time for a Condition Assessment Program (CAP) report from three months to one month and has also improved the accessibility and usability of the report. Shortening the time reduces costs for shipowners and makes the  CAP a useful tool for risk assessment of vessels and offshore units for life extension or conversion.

Vincent Lefebvre, Head of CAP Section, Bureau Veritas, says, “CAP used to be something forced on tanker owners by charterers. Not anymore. Today it is a useful risk assessment tool for every form of offshore structure and vessel. We are seeing increased demand as owners realize they can get a really good picture of their asset in a very reasonable time. Only this month we have been contracted by an owner to perform CAP assessments on two VLCCs, which are candidates for conversion to FPSO. And we are also using CAP as a building block in life extension programs for gas carriers, FSUs, a dredger and a containership.”

Bureau Veritas has cut the CAP reporting time by completely renewing the reporting software used by the surveyor and by the UTM (Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement) service provider. At the same time it has revised the report to make it deliverable by web to the client and if required the clients of the client, such as charterers, or banks and other stakeholders.

Says Mr. Lefebvre, “The oil majors allow three months for the CAP report production, which is the norm in this area, so our new system has dramatically shortened the time between survey and being able to use the data. Even tanker owners who were reluctant to use CAP change their view when they get such a useful report so quickly.”

The new CAP reporting software was designed in liaison with clients and ship vetting entities. Using a web-based interface the tool is installed on surveyors’ lap tops. The database of the tanks and important machinery equipment is automatically down loaded from BV’s class database Neptune if the unit is BV class or uploaded for next time use if the vessel is not BV class. Reporting time is much reduced by use of drop down menus and eliminating duplication of data. Drop down menus ensure that CAP survey reports use common language and common phraseology throughout the BV network. Automatic calculation of scores and award of ratings takes away the possibility of calculation errors. There is an easy interface for uploading and compressing photographs and easy integration of structural strength and Fatigue Assessment report findings, hot spots and areas critical for fatigue into the report.

The CAP software works alongside the UTM software and reduces the time needed by the surveyor to assess the findings from days to hours. During the survey period the reporting tool allows for a provisional report on items requiring repair or upgrade to be provided to the client for their repair specification needs.

The final very easy to read report is downloadable in pdf format or can be read directly on line with magazine style page turning software. The client has the option of making it available on line to charters, banks, potential buyers and others.

July 19, 2011