CAP was first introduced in 1989 and has become a de-facto requirement in the tanker sector. Also for bulk carriers, terminal and cargo owners are more and more looking into the technical standards they are involved with, and have started to requests for CAP on bulk carriers.

CAP meets the wishes of serious ship owners who want to document the quality of their vessels beyond the scope of classification. The main benefit is that the vessel is judged on its actual condition rather than its age.

DNV was the first classification society to offer a CAP service, and also took the initiative to develop a harmonized rating scale for the three leading societies. DNV was again the first classification society to launch a service specifically suited to bulk and ore carriers, namely CAP-Bulk. So far the CAP-Bulk surveys have primarily been conducted for ships that are trading for loading in Brazil and Australia. Vale (former CVRD) in Brazil are reported to require a CAP (min rating 2) for vessels above 25 yeras of age, and there are some signals that CAP will be required also for 20 year old vessels. Also the two iron ore majors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto in Australia have started to require vetting of bulk carriers and ore carriers. Read more…