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Fenders Meet PIANC Protocol
01 Dec 2004
Fentek 's entire range of high performance moulded fenders has achieved Type Approval status from Germanischer Lloyd following rigorous testing to the new International Navigation Association (PIANC) protocol.
The updated PIANC 'Guidelines for the Design of Fender Systems: 2002', published in April of that year, sought to tighten the original testing protocol (dating to 1984) by not only including the very latest design practices for fenders but also by introducing a strict type approval 'Procedure to Determine and Report the Performance of Marine Fenders'.
This would bring all manufacturers into line and ensure specifiers could be confidant that the published performance figures of fenders from all Type Approved sources were measured using the same methods and from the same datum. PIANC's new protocol addresses many areas which are critical to fender performance.
Type Approval testing of fenders to the new PIANC protocol calls for extensive preparation and large investments.
Fentek's Singapore factory, Trelleborg Hercules, started this major undertaking late in 2002.
To prove all tests were carried out strictly in accordance with the new PIANC protocol, a Germanischer Lloyd inspector was permanently stationed at the factory for the duration of the test programme.
The effort was rewarded in October of this year, with Fentek now able to claim to be the first manufacturer worldwide to achieve Type Approval to the new PIANC protocol for their entire range of fenders.
MJInformation No: 20119
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