Bureau Veritas (BV) has announced its development of a new service and a new label – ‘Safeguard’ – to help businesses worldwide resume operations with appropriate health and safety standards.

‘Restart Your Business with BV’ is designed to address the risks specific to all places where people live and work. Now it is available specifically for cruise ships and passenger ferries combining BV’s global TIC capabilities across global industry with its marine and offshore classification expertise.

Passenger vessels have been particularly vulnerable in the pandemic and operations have ceased. BV has developed a framework specifically to address the requirements of this market.

Matthieu de Tugny, president BV Marine & Offshore, said: “We have worked to find a way to help passenger ship operators get back in business. Confidence is critical. Restart provides that confidence. Passengers, the crew and all stakeholders engaged in operations on board, in ports and in transit will be able to see that a ship has been assigned the Bureau Veritas ‘Safeguard’ label. By addressing the real risks, with transparency, the necessary trust and confidence can be fostered to support a safe restart and maintain operations thereafter.”

Restart Your Business with BV was developed in collaboration with a wide range of experts and stakeholders and the applicability goes well beyond passenger ships, according to BV, which said the service is also suitable for all ship types to help protect crew and personnel safety. Work boats such as offshore service vessels and units with regular or high turnover of personnel will also benefit.

“It‘s all about protecting people,” added Andreas Ullrich, global market leader, passenger ships at BV. He emphasized that procedures are vital and must comply with applicable regulations to protect passengers and help ensure safe working conditions for seafarers and all company employees onboard. The application and implementation must be consistent – as must auditing by BV – to provide the required demonstration of assurance to end-users.

“All stakeholders benefit from the visibility that Restart provides. The Safeguard badge demonstrates an operator has addressed health, safety and hygiene requirements, has properly implemented necessary procedures, has trained the crew and all employees onboard and has well agreed procedures with ports and terminals – and, finally, that a BV audit has been concluded satisfactorily,” Ullrich said.