The International Association of Classifications Societies (IACS) has adopted new Unified Requirements (UR S11A), in a bid to enhance the safety of large container ships.
IACS decided to implement the new rules after the MOL Comfort incident that took place off the coast of Yemen in 2013.
The regulations are aimed at improving consistency between pre-existing class society provisions.
The guidelines combine three new safety measures that offer a complete response to the findings of the investigation by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and subsequent papers to the IMO regarding the MOL Comfort disaster.
IACS chairman Philippe Donche-Gay said: "Once again IACS has demonstrated its unrivalled technical capacity by delivering important unified requirements in a very tight timeframe that will further enhance large container ship safety.
"IACS is proud of its contribution to this important debate and stands ready to continue to assist the IMO in all areas where technical expertise can advance our common goal of safer and cleaner ships."
In addition, the new rule is complemented by a Unified Requirement (UR S34) that deals with minimum loading conditions to be analysed.
The new standards will primarily address bi-axial stresses, the whipping effect on containerships, and a revised wave bending magnitude and longitudinal distribution.
Moreover, the UR will set consistent requirements among IACS members for defining the unified minimum load cases used when conducting strength assessment of containerships by Finite Element (FE) analysis.
