Anchor manufacturers put classification society stamps on their literature and their products, and very few explain what those stamps represent. Some of them mean an anchor was tested. Some mean a drawing was reviewed. They aren’t the same thing, and the difference matters when you’re comparing anchors.
There are three separate ideas here, and they sometimes get used interchangeably. Type approval, classification, and certification.
Societies
Classification societies are institutions, and several are specialist shipping registers that work only in the marine industry. The ones you’ll come across:
- RINA (Registro Italiano Navale), Italian, widely used in Europe and internationally
- Lloyd’s Register, United Kingdom
- BV (Bureau Veritas), French
- ABS (American Bureau of Shipping), American
- DNV (Det Norske Veritas), Norwegian
Type approval
Type approval is society’s endorsement of a design, or a “type”. The drawings and production plans go to the society’s engineers, who either approve them or send them back with comments and requests.
It’s worth being clear about what this does and doesn’t tell you. Type approval recognizes that the concept is sound. There is no testing. It doesn’t say how the anchor performs or how well it’s built. And it can apply to an entire size range even though only the larger models are ever physically tested.
HHP and SHHP classification
HHP stands for High Holding Power and has been in use since the CQR appeared in the 1930s. Most societies now also recognize SHHP, Super High Holding Power.
Both are relative standards. The anchor is tested alongside a standard stockless anchor, the traditional ship’s anchor, and graded against it.
- HHP means the anchor holds at least twice what a standard stockless anchor of the same mass holds.
- SHHP means it holds at least four times a standard stockless anchor of the same mass, or twice a recognized HHP anchor.
Because the benchmark is a stockless anchor, these classifications tell you an anchor comfortably beats a very old design. They don’t rank modern anchors against each other. As with type approval, the classification can cover a full size range from testing done on the larger models only.
Certification
Certification is the overarching standard, and it’s the one that involves individual anchors rather than designs.
For an anchor to be certified, it must be individually inspected and proof tested. In practice this only happens with larger anchors, roughly 70 kg (150 lb) and up depending on the society and the office. Type approval and classification status carry over from the initial examination and testing.
Behind it sit process standards and engineering specifications covering things like heat treatment of castings and weld quality. Anchors can be drop-tested. Strength is proof tested by holding the flukes in a rig and applying a specified minimum load to the shank.
A certified anchor has to carry a set of markings, including the society’s name, a serial number that lets the anchor’s history be traced, its weight, and the HHP or SHHP acronym where it applies, along with other details.
Where Rocna sits
The Rocna Original was granted RINA type approval and SHHP classification, covering galvanized models from 4 kg to 110 kg. That certificate has since lapsed.
There have been minor changes to the design and manufacturing process since. None of them change the anchor’s geometry or reduce its strength.
If your project needs certification, whether that’s a naval architect, a surveyor, or a class requirement asking for it, contact us. Individual anchors can be certified, including through ABS. There’s a cost attached, and we’ll tell you what’s involved before you commit to anything.