RINA Fleet Comfort awarded to GNV

Italian ferry operator Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) has been granted the Fleet Comfort

Class award by RINA, to certify the high level of comfort on board its whole fleet of cruise ferries. It is the first ever such certificate awarded to a complete fleet of passenger vessels.

Grandi Navi Veloci is now the only company in the world operating in the

passenger sector whose entire fleet complies fully with internationally

recognised standards for vibration and noise limit levels.

The award highlights the commitment of GNV to customer satisfaction in terms

of ease and comfort. GNV’s progress towards ‘total comfort’ started with the RINA class notations conferred on the cruise ferries Excellent and Excelsior in 2002, and now includes all eight ships operated by the company.

GNV’s ferries have service speeds of 22 to 30 knots and operate in the most diversified weather conditions with different loading conditions. The challenge to bring the entire fleet within the rigorous standards set by RINA could only be met through detailed attention to critical areas. Modeling and measurement supported the numerical predictions from an early stage of design and allowed the appropriate technological measures to be adopted during construction for newbuildings. However, 6 out of the 8 ships which have been certified to meet the comfort standards were already in operation. Extensive full scale measurements and detailed numerical analysis led to the adoption of the necessary improvements in order to meet the desired noise and vibration limit levels.