INSA

The Naval Codes

Many of the navies involved in INSA are now structuring their naval regulatory authorities around the Chapters of the Naval Ship Code and applying it in whole or in part to their new build and in-service warships. Some of the nations within INSA intend to apply the Naval Submarine Code in the same way.

Naval Ship Code

Naval Submarine Code

Naval Boat Code

Use of the Codes

INSA and NATO Versions

Merchant ships operate within the framework of international legislation overseen by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

Navies strive to achieve a balance between safety and military capability, ensuring that peacetime activities are undertaken at an acceptable level of safety and for many navies this is set as being equivalent to merchant ships under civil legislation.

However, the key IMO safety document, Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is unattractive for many naval ships because their military role demands design and operating solutions that are not compatible with the provisions of SOLAS; in some cases specifying compliance with SOLAS can lead to significant cost implications or a compromise of a ship's capability.

Recognising these limitations, NATO actively explored the issue and established a specialist team in 2004 comprising Navies and Classification Societies with the aim of developing a naval equivalent to SOLAS. The result of four years of work by the specialist team was the 'Naval Ship Code', developed to deliver: safety assurance benchmarked against statute, using common standards that are familiar world-wide and which recognise military operating requirements.

The Code is a goal based standard which offers a framework for safety regulation with the same scope and an equivalent level of safety to IMO SOLAS. In December 2009 the first Edition of the Naval Ship Code was published by NATO as ANEP-77. An annual update cycle is maintained with working groups focussing on different areas of the Code. INSA annually publishes Part 1: The Naval Ship Code and Part 2: Solutions to the Naval Ship Code and the latest versions are available on this page when signed in to our website. Part 3 contains justification and guidance and is available to INSA members only. Every 3-4 years, INSA agrees an updated Edition of the Code and Part 1 is passed to NATO for review and publication as the next Edition of ANEP-77 – the NATO Edition text is identical to the INSA Edition of the same designation despite the dates being different.

The Naval Ship Code can be downloaded directly from the NATO website using the links below.

INSA welcomed a new Code to stand alongside the Naval Ship Code and Naval Submarine Code, thus completing the range of vessels covered by the Codes

Nations applying the Naval Ship Code recognised the value of using that Code in their safety regulation but it was clear that the Naval Ship Code was not suitable for application to small naval craft. The UK took the lead in developing a Naval Boat Code specifically for surface craft under 24 metres in length and presented it for adoption and further development by INSA. The combined experience of the INSA members covers a very wide range of boat types and sizes and the Code has been developed to manage the safety of the full range of simple and more complex craft. The Naval Boat Code has the same format as the Naval Ship Code and the Naval Submarine Code.

The Naval Boat Code was officially adopted in 2020 and published in 2021 with Part 1: Naval Boat Code being published as an INSA document. More recently, INSA have published Part 2: Solutions to the Naval Boat Code and the latest versions of both parts are available on this page when signed in to our website. Part 3 contains the Code Justification and Guidance and is available to INSA members only. In 2024 INSA requested NATO publish Part 1 as an ANEP.

The Naval Ship Code can be downloaded directly from the NATO website using the links below.

The use of the Codes is optional for navies and the INSA navies use them in a variety of ways to support safety within their organisations; some use them to undertake safety certification and often they are listed as requirements in new build specifications.

Navies may be actively involved in the way the Codes are complied with or it may be left to the shipbuilder to select the standards to meet the Codes. The Codes are goal-based, supported by Solutions and Justification/Guidance sections and together comprise of Tiers 0 – 5, split into 3 parts:

The Tier 0 Goal for the Ship/Submarine/Boat is the highest level goal and is the one against which certification can be issued.

Tier 1 Goals are provided for each Chapter and address the primary concern of that area and are not intended to set prescriptive requirements or to give specific solutions.

For each Chapter there will be a number of factors which can contribute to achieving the Tier 1 Goal. The Chapters are therefore split into Regulations, and grouped into a logical Regulatory framework, each with a Tier 2 Functional Objective. Across several Code Chapters, there may well be common Functional Objectives and cross-referencing of requirements from one chapter to another.

At Tier 3, Performance Requirements for each Regulation provide a set of requirements relevant to the Functional Objective which are to be complied with and verified during design, construction and operation, to meet the Tiers above. The Performance Requirements are independent of the technical or operational solution and have a qualitative character. This will allow for future alternative technical or operational solutions, which are not available at the time of development of the Code text.

‘The Code’ comprises Tiers 0-3 and is contained in Part 1. This provides the regulatory aspects and for the Naval Ship Code and Naval Submarine Code is the part published by NATO.

Tier 4 is the tier at which standards can be selected as Solutions to meet the Tier 3 Performance Requirements. For the Naval Ship Code there are some ‘Solutions to the Naval Ship Code’ written by INSA which provide a Solution (one way to meet the Code) and these are presented as Part 2. The Code Solutions are not mandatory, Naval Administrations need to choose the mix of Code Solutions/Standards/Rules that suit their Concept of Operations Statement and Design. These detailed standards provide a level of prescription which minimises risk, i.e. risk of failure is greatly reduced once prescriptive criteria or standards are selected. A performance based solution (e.g. first principles calculations, risk assessment techniques, statistical analysis) is likely to be both expensive to apply and defers risk reduction until the full demonstration is complete. As such, performance based solutions should be avoided if possible. The Code Solutions identify activities for verification of those solutions.

It is important that Code Solutions/Standards/Rules which meet the Tier 3 Performance Requirements are selected rather than attempting to verify a ship directly against Tier 3. The Code Solutions have been justified (formally checked) against Tier 3 to ensure that they provide sufficient coverage of the Performance Requirements and this exercise needs to be undertaken for any alternative Standards/Rules which are selected. The Code’s Standards Plan template can be used to capture the Solutions being applied.

The final tier, Tier 5 Justification and Guidance on the Naval Ship/Submarine/Boat Code is only available to INSA members (from Edition H onwards) and contains statements justifying how the Code text for Tier 3 Performance Requirements and Tier 4 Solutions to the Naval Ship Code satisfy the Tier 1 Goal for the chapter, and ultimately the Tier 0 Goal for the Ship/Submarine/Boat. Guidance is also provided for some areas.

INSA and NATO versions of the Codes

INSA develops, discusses and agrees INSA versions of the Codes, all three parts of which are available to members after each AGM. The external availability of published NATO and INSA Code documents is different for each Code. Navies can choose to use any version of the Code for their projects. There is no need to default to the most recently published NATO version for contracting and certification although some navies may choose to take this approach.

Naval Ship Code

INSA publishes the INSA Part 1 (Naval Ship Code) and Part 2 (Solutions) annually and it is made available for those registered on the website. Part 3 is available to INSA members only and is not publicly published. Part 1 of the Naval Ship Code is sent to NATO for publishing as ANEP-77 at each Edition change (i.e. Edition H Version 1, Edition I Version 1) with the publishing cycle being agreed as three-four years

Naval Submarine Code

INSA publishes the INSA Part 1 (Naval Submarine Code) annually and it is made available to INSA members only. There is no Part 2 written for the Naval Submarine Code and there is no plan to produce this as INSA nations have their own standards/approach for submarine design and build. Part 3 is available to INSA members only and is not publicly published. Part 1 of the Naval Submarine Code is sent to NATO for publishing at each Edition change (i.e. Edition C Version 1, Edition D Version 1). It is published by NATO as ANEP-102 and like the Naval Ship Code, the publishing cycle is set at three-four years.

Naval Boat Code

INSA publishes the INSA Part 1 (Naval Boat Code) and Part 2 (Solutions) annually and it is made available for those registered on the website. Part 3 is available to INSA members only and is not publicly published. Part 1 of the Naval Boat Code has been sent to NATO for publishing as an ANEP and will continue to be at each Edition change (i.e. Edition A Version 1, Edition B Version 1) with the publishing cycle being agreed as three-four years.