Skoltech and Russian Maritime Register of Shipping sign cooperation agreement

The subject of the agreement was the cooperation expansion regarding the field of research and education. The document provides for the possibility of joint research in the high-tech segments of the container industry, introducing innovative materials, including polymer composites, into container and shipbuilding production, as well as professional training and retraining of specialists for the industry.

RS works with all types of containers at all stages of their life cycle — from design to decommissioning; provides services for code registration for container owners, preparation of expert opinions on the transportation of dangerous goods in tank containers, participates in the work of the National (TC 246) and International (TC 104) technical committees on containers.

The organizations worked together to develop requirements for an innovative tank container with a vessel made of polymer composite materials. Within the framework of the project, Skoltech and Russian Maritime Register of Shipping specialists conducted research, worked on updating the requirements of the Register’s Rules, and actively promoted the position of the Russian Federation in the working bodies of the UN Subcommittee on the Transport of Dangerous Goods on amendments to the international regulatory and technical documents.

“Skoltech and RS have years of fruitful cooperation and successful projects behind them. Together with RS, we are advancing scientific and technological initiatives of the Russian Federation, including on international platforms — in the technical committees of the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization. In addition, RS entrusts us with the professional training of its specialists. The moment has come to expand the scope of our cooperation with the goal, among other things, to accelerate the practices of successful technology transfer and commercialization of developments: The Institute is ready to act as a platform for an engineering center under the auspices of RS,” said Alexander Kuleshov, the president of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology.

“RS has been working in the container industry since 1973. We understand the Russian and international markets well, we are guided by modern trends, and we help promote modern technical initiatives. Our cooperation with the university has brought excellent results: Tank containers with a vessel made of PCM [polymer composite materials] — a Russian development — are now approved for international sea transportation. I am convinced that continuing to combine our organizations’ intellectual potential will allow us to implement a lot of interesting and equally significant projects that will contribute to the development of the transport industry and strengthen the technological sovereignty of the country,” said Sergey Kulikov, Director General of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

Additional information:

Founded in 1913, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) is a world-renowned classification society that operates within all spheres of the maritime industry. The organization’s main objectives are to enhance the safety standards of human life at sea, ensure the safe navigation of ships and the secure transportation of cargoes by sea and inland waterways, as well as to develop standards for environmental protection.

RS reviews technical documentation, surveys ships under construction and in service, issues documents and certificates for vessels, offshore facilities, ship machinery, equipment and devices; conducts measurements of ships and floating facilities; carries out surveys to ensure compliance with international conventions; certifies industrial products and manufacturers, quality management systems, sustainability management and occupational health and safety management systems in compliance with ISO standards. RS surveys general cargo containers, thermal containers, tank containers, platform containers, offshore containers, etc.